Galaxy formation and evolution
Lead Research Organisation:
University of Cambridge
Department Name: Institute of Astronomy
Abstract
This programmatic five-year rolling grant application addresses one of the most important problems in extragalactic astronomy, the formation and evolution of galaxies, one of the ``big questions'' in the current PPARC Road Map, and is a defining objective of virtually every national decadal survey of astronomy. A full understanding of galaxy formation and evolution requires multiple lines of attack. Observations of the resolved stellar populations in the Milky Way and its Local Group companions provide a detailed fossil record of the dynamical assemblies of the galaxies, the formation of stars, and the buildup of heavy elements over a wide range of mass scales and initial conditions. At the other end of the scale, observations of distant galaxies spanning lookback times of up to 12 Gyr provide direct measurements of the evolution of galaxy populations and the buildup of stars and metals with cosmic time. Finally, measurements of the large-scale star formation and abundance properties of nearby galaxies form a vital astrophysical bridge between the studies of nearby resolved stellar populations and the distant high-redshift investigations, by allowing us to characterise the evolutionary properties of the Hubble sequence and the complex ``gastrophysical'' processes that regulate the accretion of gas and the formation of stars in galaxies. In this rolling grant application we propose a series of investigations that will advance our understanding of galaxy formation and evolution on all three fronts.
Organisations
Publications
Mackey A
(2008)
Black holes and core expansion in massive star clusters
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Niederste-Ostholt M
(2009)
The origin of Segue 1
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Begum A
(2007)
Life in the last lane: star formation and chemical evolution in an extremely gas rich dwarf NGC 3741
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Pinfield D
(2008)
Fifteen new T dwarfs discovered in the UKIDSS Large Area Survey
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Quider A
(2009)
The ultraviolet spectrum of the gravitationally lensed galaxy 'the Cosmic Horseshoe': a close-up of a star-forming galaxy at z ~ 2
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Ural U
(2010)
Kinematic subpopulations in dwarf spheroidal galaxies
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Brinchmann J
(2008)
New insights into the stellar content and physical conditions of star-forming galaxies at z = 2-3 from spectral modelling
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Casey C
(2009)
A search for neutral carbon towards two z = 4.05 submillimetre galaxies, GN???20 and GN???20.2
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Lee H
(2007)
Interstellar medium oxygen abundances of dwarf irregular galaxies in Centaurus A and nearby groups*
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Gray M
(2009)
STAGES: the Space Telescope A901/2 Galaxy Evolution Survey
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society