My main interest is in the Structure and Evolution of Galaxies, and more specifically in the role of gas in galaxy evolution. I study the interplay between galaxies and their environment, leading to such questions as: What are the residual signatures of the formation process around galaxies? Do galaxies evolve along the Hubble sequence? if so, how, and in what direction? Do mergers really convert spirals to ellipticals? How does the environment affect the evolution of galaxies? Where and how are S0's made, in clusters or in groups? Currently I am involved in three major research projects
An HI survey of Clusters in the Local Universe
Virgo: a Laboratory for Studying Galaxy Evolution
The Fate of Gas in Merger Remnants
Kenney, J.P.D., van Gorkom, J.H. and Vollmer, B. 2004,
VLA HI Observations of Gas Stripping in the Virgo Cluster Spiral NGC 4522, AJ 127, 3361
van Gorkom, J.H., 2004, Interactions of Galaxies with the Intra Cluster Medium,
invited refereed review in Carnegie Observatory Astrophysics Series,
Vol 3: Clusters of Galaxies, Probes of Cosmology and Galaxy Evolution,
ed. J.S. Mulchaey, A. Dressler, and A. Oemler (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press), p306
A. Chung, J.H. van Gorkom, K. O'Neil and G.D. Bothun, 2002,
LSB Galaxies and the Tully-Fisher Relation, 2002, AJ 123, 2387
T. Chang, J. H. van Gorkom, A. I. Zabludoff, D. Zaritsky and C. Mihos, 2001,
A Search for HI in E+A Galaxies, AJ 121, 1965
Hibbard, J.E., van Gorkom, J.H., Rupen, M. P. and Schiminovich, D., 2001,
An HI Rogues Gallery, in Gas & Galaxy Evolution,
eds. J.E. Hibbard, M. P. Rupen and J.H. van Gorkom, ASP Conf Ser 240, 657.
B.M. Poggianti and J.H. van Gorkom, 2001,
Environmental Effects on Gas and Galaxy Evolution in Clusters, in Gas & Galaxy Evolution,
eds J.E. Hibbard, M. P. Rupen and J.H. van Gorkom, ASP Conf Ser 240, 589
Bravo-Alfaro, H., Cayatte, V., van Gorkom, J.H. and Balkowski, C., 2000,
VLA HI Imaging of the brightest spiral galaxies in Coma, AJ 119, 580
J. H. van Gorkom and D. Schiminovich, 1997, "HI in Elliptical Galaxies",
invited review in The Nature of Elliptical Galaxies, 2nd Stromlo Symposium,
eds M. Arnaboldi, G. S. da Costa and P. Saha, ASP Conf Ser 116, p310
J.H. van Gorkom,1999, HI Images that changed my View on the Universe,
in Festschrift for the 60th birthday of B. Clark,
eds D. Finley and W.M. Goss, NRAO workshop no 27, p13
J.H. van Gorkom, C. L. Carilli, J. T. Stocke, E. S. Perlman and J. M Shull, 1996,
The HI Environment of Nearby Lyman-alpha Absorbers, AJ 112, 1397
J.E. Hibbard and J.H. van Gorkom, 1996,
HI, HII and R-Band Observations of a Galactic Merger Sequence, AJ 111, 655
D. Schiminovich, J.H. van Gorkom, J.M. van der Hulst and S. Kasow, 1994,
Discovery of Neutral Hydrogen associated with the Diffuse Shells of NGC 5128 (Centaurus A),
ApJ letters 423, L101
S. Casertano and J.H. van Gorkom, 1991,
Declining Rotation Curves: The end of a Conspiracy?, AJ 101, 1231
V. Cayatte, J.H. van Gorkom, C. Balkowski, C. Kotanyi, 1990,
VLA observations of neutral hydrogen in Virgo Cluster galaxies. I. The Atlas, AJ 100, 604
| Name | (Affiliation) | Title of the Thesis |
| Former Students | ||
| Michael P. Rupen | (Princeton) | Disk mass densities in edge-on galaxies |
| Veronique Cayatte | (Paris) | Contribution a l'etude des effets d'environnement sur les proprietes des galaxies |
| Arpad Szomoru | (Groningen) | Void Galaxies |
| Pauline M. McMahon | (Columbia) | A neutral hydrogen survey of the Hydra I Cluster |
| John E. Hibbard | (Columbia) | The fate of gas in merging disk galaxies |
| Rob Olling | (Columbia) | The shape of dark matter halos |
| Anouk Shambrook | (UCSC) | The cluster of galaxies Abell 2670 |
| Hector Bravo-Alfaro | (Paris) | An HI survey of the Coma Cluster |
| Jacob Noel-Storr | (Columbia) | Gas Disks and Supermassive Black Holes in Nearby Radio Galaxies |
| Current Students | ||
| Aeree Chung | (Columbia) | Virgo: a Laboratory for Studying Galaxy Evolution |
| Pietro Reviglio | (Columbia) | |
This year, for the first time, SCIENCE will be an integral part of Columbia's Core Curriculum. Frontiers of Science will introduce the entire incoming class to the exciting ideas at the forefront of several distinct areas of scientific research and develop the habits of mind characteric of a scientific approach to the world. This fall I am instructor of two discussion sections in this course, C1100.004 and C1100.005 (Scientific Habits of Mind).