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
Chapman S
(2007)
Strangers in the Night: Discovery of a Dwarf Spheroidal Galaxy on Its First Local Group Infall
in The Astrophysical Journal
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
Bunker A.
(2007)
Galaxies at high redshift and reionization
in NUOVO CIMENTO DELLA SOCIETA ITALIANA DI FISICA B-BASIC TOPICS IN PHYSICS
Pontzen A
(2007)
Direct observational test rules out small Mg ii absorbers
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society: Letters
Barcons X
(2007)
The XMM-Newton serendipitous survey IV. Optical identification of the XMM-Newton medium sensitivity survey (XMS)
in Astronomy & Astrophysics
Koch A
(2007)
Stellar Kinematics in the Remote Leo II Dwarf Spheroidal Galaxy--Another Brick in the Wall
in The Astronomical Journal
Dutta P
(2008)
H i power spectrum of the spiral galaxy NGC 628
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society: Letters
Koch Andreas
(2008)
THE HIGHLY UNUSUAL CHEMICAL COMPOSITION OF THE HERCULES DWARF SPHEROIDAL GALAXY
in ASTROPHYSICAL JOURNAL LETTERS
Caccianiga A.
(2008)
The
XMM-
Newton bright serendipitous survey -: Identification and optical spectral properties
in ASTRONOMY & ASTROPHYSICS
Strigari LE
(2008)
A common mass scale for satellite galaxies of the Milky Way.
in Nature