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Central galaxies and their satellites out to z~2

09 Sep 2015, by

The mysterious lack of star formation in a substantial fraction of the galaxy population over a wide range in both mass and redshift has been the subject of much discussion over the years. We can gain information about the quenching processes that operate specifically on satellite galaxies by studying their star formation properties as a function of redshift, mass, and environment. But what about central galaxies? Detailed studies of galaxies at low redshift have not provided answers. In this talk I will discuss how the current generation of deep imaging surveys allow us to study low-mass satellite galaxies out to z~2, and will show how simple models of the evolving satellite content of central galaxies can provide strong constraints on the processes that regulate the growth of centrals the themselves.