Overview
Background
Dr Sarah Sweet's research interests are in astrophysics, in the field of galaxy evolution. She received her PhD from the University of Queensland in 2014. Dr Sweet then worked at the Australian National University and at Swinburne University of Technology, before returning to UQ as a Lecturer in Astrophysics in 2020. She was awarded an Australian Research Council DECRA Fellowship in 2022 and became a Senior Lecturer in 2023.
Availability
- Dr Sarah Sweet is:
- Available for supervision
Fields of research
Qualifications
- Bachelor of Business (Management), The University of Queensland
- Bachelor of Science, The University of Queensland
- Bachelor (Honours) of Science, The University of Queensland
- Graduate Certificate in Research Commercialisation, The University of Queensland
- Doctor of Philosophy of Astrophysics, The University of Queensland
Research interests
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Spatially-resolved galaxy evolution
I'm interested in the formation and evolution of galaxies, ranging from dwarf to giant galaxies within the local to high-redshift Universe. I investigate the internal (mass, angular momentum) and environmental factors responsible for galaxy diversity in properties such as morphology, chemical content and dark matter content, mapping their evolution over cosmic time.
Works
Search Professor Sarah Sweet’s works on UQ eSpace
Featured
2025
Journal Article
Exploring the chemical content of galaxies using the SAMI Zoom Survey: a data release of 92 spatially resolved H*ii regions in nearby galaxies
Myszka, Aaron, Sweet, Sarah M., Nanayakkara, Themiya, Glazebrook, Karl, Groves, Brent, Cameron, Alex J., Grasha, Kathryn, Krumholz, Mark R., Li, Zefeng, López-Sánchez, Ángel R., Nicholls, David C., Rowlands, Stephanie, Ryan-Weber, Emma and Ting, Yuan-Sen (2025). Exploring the chemical content of galaxies using the SAMI Zoom Survey: a data release of 92 spatially resolved H*ii regions in nearby galaxies. Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society, 540 (1), 919-960. doi: 10.1093/mnras/staf742
Featured
2025
Journal Article
Reevaluating UMa3/U1: star cluster or the smallest known galaxy?
Devlin, Scot, Baumgardt, Holger and Sweet, Sarah M. (2025). Reevaluating UMa3/U1: star cluster or the smallest known galaxy?. Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society, 539 (3), 2485-2497. doi: 10.1093/mnras/staf572
Featured
2025
Journal Article
A shallow slope for the stellar mass-angular momentum relation of star-forming galaxies at 1.5 < z < 2.5
Salcedo, Juan M. Espejo, Glazebrook, Karl, Fisher, Deanne B., Sweet, Sarah M., Obreschkow, Danail and Schreiber, N. M. Foerster (2025). A shallow slope for the stellar mass-angular momentum relation of star-forming galaxies at 1.5 < z < 2.5. Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society, 536 (2), 1188-1216. doi: 10.1093/mnras/stae2647
Featured
2023
Journal Article
The formation pathways of compact elliptical galaxies
Deeley, Simon, Drinkwater, Michael J., Sweet, Sarah M., Bekki, Kenji, Couch, Warrick J. and Forbes, Duncan A. (2023). The formation pathways of compact elliptical galaxies. Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society, 525 (1), 1192-1209. doi: 10.1093/mnras/stad2313
Featured
2022
Journal Article
The SAMI Galaxy Survey: the drivers of gas and stellar metallicity differences in galaxies
Fraser-Mckelvie, A., Cortese, L., Groves, B., Brough, S., Bryant, J., Catinella, B., Croom, S., D'Eugenio, F., López-Sánchez, A. R., Van De Sande, J., Sweet, S., Vaughan, S., Bland-Hawthorn, J., Lawrence, J., Lorente, N. and Owers, M. (2022). The SAMI Galaxy Survey: the drivers of gas and stellar metallicity differences in galaxies. Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society, 510 (1), 320-333. doi: 10.1093/mnras/stab3430
Featured
2022
Journal Article
Multi-resolution angular momentum measurements of z ∼ 1.5 − 2 star-forming galaxies
Salcedo, Juan M Espejo, Glazebrook, Karl, Fisher, Deanne B., Sweet, Sarah M., Obreschkow, Danail, Swinbank, A. M., Gillman, Steven and Tiley, Alfred L. (2022). Multi-resolution angular momentum measurements of z ∼ 1.5 − 2 star-forming galaxies. Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society: Letters, 509 (2), 2318-2338. doi: 10.1093/mnras/stab2755
Featured
2021
Journal Article
The two formation pathways of S0 galaxies
Deeley, Simon, Drinkwater, Michael J, Sweet, Sarah M, Bekki, Kenji, Couch, Warrick J, Forbes, Duncan A and Dolfi, Arianna (2021). The two formation pathways of S0 galaxies. Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society, 508 (1), 895-911. doi: 10.1093/mnras/stab2007
Featured
2021
Journal Article
The SAMI Galaxy Survey: reconciling strong emission line metallicity diagnostics using metallicity gradients
Poetrodjojo, Henry, Groves, Brent, Kewley, Lisa J., Sweet, Sarah M., Sanchez, Sebastian F., Medling, Anne M., López-Sánchez, Ángel R., Brough, Sarah, Cortese, Luca, van de Sande, Jesse, Vaughan, Sam, Richards, Samuel N., Bryant, Julia J., Croom, Scott M., Bland-Hawthorn, Joss, Goodwin, Michael, Lawrence, Jon S., Owers, Matt S. and Scott, Nicholas (2021). The SAMI Galaxy Survey: reconciling strong emission line metallicity diagnostics using metallicity gradients. Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society, 502 (3), 3357-3373. doi: 10.1093/mnras/stab205
Featured
2020
Journal Article
The SAMI Galaxy Survey: a range in S0 properties indicating multiple formation pathways
Deeley, Simon, Drinkwater, Michael J, Sweet, Sarah M, Diaz, Jonathan, Bekki, Kenji, Couch, Warrick J, Forbes, Duncan A, Bland-Hawthorn, Joss, Bryant, Julia J, Croom, Scott, Cortese, Luca, Lawrence, Jon S, Lorente, Nuria, Medling, Anne M, Owers, Matt, Richards, Samuel N and van de Sande, Jesse (2020). The SAMI Galaxy Survey: a range in S0 properties indicating multiple formation pathways. Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society, 498 (2), 2372-2383. doi: 10.1093/mnras/staa2417
Featured
2020
Journal Article
Stellar angular momentum distribution linked to galaxy morphology
Sweet, Sarah M., Glazebrook, Karl, Obreschkow, Danail, Fisher, Deanne B., Burkert, Andreas, Lagos, Claudia D. P. and Salcedo, Juan M. Espejo (2020). Stellar angular momentum distribution linked to galaxy morphology. Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society, 494 (4), 5421-5438. doi: 10.1093/mnras/staa1050
Featured
2019
Journal Article
The SAMI Galaxy Survey: mass-kinematics scaling relations
Barat, Dilyar, D'Eugenio, Francesco, Colless, Matthew, Brough, Sarah, Catinella, Barbara, Cortese, Luca, Croom, Scott M., Medling, Anne M., Oh, Sree, van de Sande, Jesse, Sweet, Sarah M., Yi, Sukyoung K., Bland-Hawthorn, Joss, Bryant, Julia, Goodwin, Michael, Groves, Brent, Lawrence, Jon, Owers, Matt S., Richards, Samuel N. and Scott, Nicholas (2019). The SAMI Galaxy Survey: mass-kinematics scaling relations. Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society, 487 (2), 2924-2936. doi: 10.1093/mnras/stz1439
Featured
2019
Journal Article
The SAMI galaxy survey: exploring the gas-phase mass-metallicity relation
Sanchez, S. F., Barrera-Ballesteros, J. K., Lopez-Coba, C., Brough, S., Bryant, J. J., Bland-Hawthorn, J., Croom, S. M., van de Sande, J., Cortese, L., Goodwin, M., Lawrence, J. S., Lopez-Sanchez, A. R., Sweet, S. M., Owers, M. S., Richards, S. N. and Walcher, C. J. (2019). The SAMI galaxy survey: exploring the gas-phase mass-metallicity relation. Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society, 484 (3), 3042-3070. doi: 10.1093/mnras/stz019
Featured
2019
Journal Article
Angular momentum of z ∼ 1.5 galaxies and their local analogues with adaptive optics
Sweet, Sarah M., Fisher, Deanne B., Savorgnan, Giulia, Glazebrook, Karl, Obreschkow, Danail, Gillman, Steven, Tiley, Alfred L, Lagos, Claudia D. P., Wang, Liang, Swinbank, A Mark, Bower, Richard and Sharples, Ray M. (2019). Angular momentum of z ∼ 1.5 galaxies and their local analogues with adaptive optics. Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society, 485 (4), 5700-5714. doi: 10.1093/mnras/stz750
Featured
2018
Journal Article
The SAMI Galaxy Survey: Data Release Two with absorption-line physics value-added products
Scott, Nicholas, van de Sande, Jesse, Croom, Scott M., Groves, Brent, Owers, Matt S., Poetrodjojo, Henry, D’Eugenio, Francesco, Medling, Anne M., Barat, Dilyar, Barone, Tania M., Bland-Hawthorn, Joss, Brough, Sarah, Bryant, Julia, Cortese, Luca, Foster, Caroline, Green, Andrew W., Oh, Sree, Colless, Matthew, Drinkwater, Michael J., Driver, Simon P., Goodwin, Michael, Gunawardhana, Madusha L. P., Federrath, Christoph, Harischandra, Lloyd, Jin, Yifei, Lawrence, J. S., Lorente, Nuria P., Mannering, Elizabeth, O’Toole, Simon ... Varidel, Mathew (2018). The SAMI Galaxy Survey: Data Release Two with absorption-line physics value-added products. Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society, 481 (2), 2299-2319. doi: 10.1093/mnras/sty2355
Featured
2018
Journal Article
The SAMI Galaxy Survey: spatially resolved metallicity and ionization mapping
Poetrodjojo, Henry, Groves, Brent, Kewley, Lisa J., Medling, Anne M., Sweet, Sarah M., van de Sande, Jesse, Sanchez, Sebastian F., Bland-Hawthorn, Joss, Brough, Sarah, Bryant, Julia J., Cortese, Luca, Croom, Scott M., López-Sánchez, Ángel R., Richards, Samuel N., Zafar, Tayyaba, Lawrence, Jon S., Lorente, Nuria P. F., Owers, Matt S. and Scott, Nicholas (2018). The SAMI Galaxy Survey: spatially resolved metallicity and ionization mapping. Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society, 479 (4), 5235-5265. doi: 10.1093/mnras/sty1782
Featured
2018
Journal Article
Revisiting the stellar mass–angular momentum–morphology relation: extension to higher bulge fraction and the effect of bulge type
Sweet, Sarah M., Fisher, David, Glazebrook, Karl, Obreschkow, Danail, Lagos, Claudia and Wang, Liang (2018). Revisiting the stellar mass–angular momentum–morphology relation: extension to higher bulge fraction and the effect of bulge type. The Astrophysical Journal, 860 (1) 37, 1-8. doi: 10.3847/1538-4357/aabfc4
Featured
2018
Journal Article
The SAMI Galaxy Survey: Data Release One with emission-line physics value-added products
Green, Andrew W., Croom, Scott M., Scott, Nicholas, Cortese, Luca, Medling, Anne M., Francesco D'Eugenio,, Bryant, Julia J., Bland-Hawthorn, Joss, Allen, J. T., Sharp, Rob, Ho, I-Ting, Groves, Brent, Drinkwater, Michael J., Mannering, Elizabeth, Harischandra, Lloyd, van de Sande, Jesse, Thomas, Adam D., Simon O'Toole,, McDermid, Richard M., Vuong, Minh, Sealey, Katrina, Bauer, Amanda E., Brough, S., Catinella, Barbara, Cecil, Gerald, Colless, Matthew, Couch, Warrick J., Driver, Simon P., Federrath, Christoph ... Zafar, T. (2018). The SAMI Galaxy Survey: Data Release One with emission-line physics value-added products. Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society, 475 (1) stx3135, 716-734. doi: 10.1093/mnras/stx3135
Featured
2018
Journal Article
The KMOS Redshift One Spectroscopic Survey (KROSS): the origin of disc turbulence in z approximate to 1 star-forming galaxies
Johnson, H. L., Harrison, C. M., Swinbank, A. M., Tiley, A. L., Stott, J. P., Bower, R. G., Smail, Ian, Bunker, A. J., Sobral, D., Turner, O. J., Best, P., Bureau, M., Cirasuolo, M., Jarvis, M. J., Magdis, G., Sharples, R. M., Bland-Hawthorn, J., Catinella, B., Cortese, L., Croom, S. M., Federrath, C., Glazebrook, K., Sweet, S. M., Bryant, J. J., Goodwin, M., Konstantopoulos, I. S., Lawrence, J. S., Medling, A. M., Owers, M. S. and Richards, S. (2018). The KMOS Redshift One Spectroscopic Survey (KROSS): the origin of disc turbulence in z approximate to 1 star-forming galaxies. Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society, 474 (4), 5076-5104. doi: 10.1093/mnras/stx3016
Featured
2017
Journal Article
The SAMI Galaxy Survey: the cluster redshift survey, target selection and cluster properties
Owers, M. S., Allen, J. T., Baldry, I., Bryant, J. J., Cecil, G. N., Cortese, L., Croom, S. M., Driver, S. P., Fogarty, L. M. R., Green, A. W., Helmich, E., De Jong, J. T. A., Kuijken, K., Mahajan, S., McFarland, J., Pracy, M. B., Robotham, A. G. S., Sikkema, G., Sweet, S., Taylor, E. N., Kleijn, G. Verdoes, Bauer, A. E., Bland-Hawthorn, J., Brough, S., Colless, M., Couch, W. J., Davies, R. L., Drinkwater, M. J., Goodwin, M. ... Tonini, C. (2017). The SAMI Galaxy Survey: the cluster redshift survey, target selection and cluster properties. Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society, 468 (2), 1824-1849. doi: 10.1093/mnras/stx562
Featured
2017
Journal Article
The SAMI Galaxy Survey: revisiting galaxy classification through high-order stellar kinematics
Sande, Jesse van de, Bland-Hawthorn, Joss, Fogarty, Lisa M. R., Cortese, Luca, d’Eugenio, Francesco, Croom, Scott M., Scott, Nicholas, Allen, James T., Brough, Sarah, Bryant, Julia J., Cecil, Gerald, Colless, Matthew, Couch, Warrick J., Davies, Roger, Elahi, Pascal J., Foster, Caroline, Goldstein, Gregory, Goodwin, Michael, Groves, Brent, Ho, I-Ting, Jeong, Hyunjin, Jones, D. Heath, Konstantopoulos, Iraklis S., Lawrence, Jon S., Leslie, Sarah K., López-Sánchez, Ángel R., McDermid, Richard M., McElroy, Rebecca, Medling, Anne M. ... Yi, Sukyoung K. (2017). The SAMI Galaxy Survey: revisiting galaxy classification through high-order stellar kinematics. The Astrophysical Journal, 835 (1) 104, 1-35. doi: 10.3847/1538-4357/835/1/104
Funding
Current funding
Supervision
Availability
- Dr Sarah Sweet is:
- Available for supervision
Before you email them, read our advice on how to contact a supervisor.
Available projects
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Spatially-resolved Galaxy Evolution
How typical or unusual is our Local Group of galaxies, which has two massive spiral galaxies each with a plane of satellite dwarf galaxies? You could determine how common the Local Group is by using equitable methods to study the fundamental physical properties of its dwarfs and the dwarfs of observed and simulated groups that resemble the Local Group.
How do the irregular, clumpy, highly-starforming galaxies we see in the distant, long-ago universe transform to the familiar elliptical and spiral galaxies we see in the present-day universe? You could investigate new ways to understand high-redshift galaxies based on fundamental physical properties such as angular momentum or chemical abundance.
There are several projects available, all focusing on disentangling galaxy evolution with the technology of integral field spectroscopy (IFS). Our team is part of world-leading IFS surveys (Hector Galaxy Survey, MAGPI, Delegate, AGEL, WALLABY) and is working to map the properties of thousands of galaxies in 3D (two spatial and one spectral dimensions). We use these data to understand the connection between the internal and external properties of galaxies of all sizes and shapes and at all distances.
Supervision history
Current supervision
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Doctor Philosophy
Understanding diversity: chemical and kinematic tracers of galaxy evolution
Principal Advisor
Other advisors: Associate Professor Holger Baumgardt
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Doctor Philosophy
Formation and Dynamics of Stellar-mass Black Holes in Star Clusters
Associate Advisor
Other advisors: Associate Professor Holger Baumgardt
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Doctor Philosophy
Studying the stellar initial mass function and binary fraction using Gaia data
Associate Advisor
Other advisors: Associate Professor Holger Baumgardt
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Doctor Philosophy
Studying globular cluster tidal tails with Gaia
Associate Advisor
Other advisors: Associate Professor Holger Baumgardt
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Doctor Philosophy
Studying the dwarf galaxy population of the Milky Way
Associate Advisor
Other advisors: Associate Professor Holger Baumgardt
Completed supervision
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2023
Doctor Philosophy
The Formation of Lenticular and Compact Elliptical Galaxies
Associate Advisor
Media
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