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
Perley D
(2009)
THE HOST GALAXIES OF SWIFT DARK GAMMA-RAY BURSTS: OBSERVATIONAL CONSTRAINTS ON HIGHLY OBSCURED AND VERY HIGH REDSHIFT GRBs
in The Astronomical Journal
Zych B
(2007)
The host galaxies of strong Ca II quasar absorption systems at z < 0.5
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Koch Andreas
(2008)
THE HIGHLY UNUSUAL CHEMICAL COMPOSITION OF THE HERCULES DWARF SPHEROIDAL GALAXY
in ASTROPHYSICAL JOURNAL LETTERS
Ibata R
(2007)
The Haunted Halos of Andromeda and Triangulum: A Panorama of Galaxy Formation in Action
in The Astrophysical Journal
Bresolin F
(2009)
THE FLAT OXYGEN ABUNDANCE GRADIENT IN THE EXTENDED DISK OF M83
in The Astrophysical Journal
Kodama T
(2007)
The first appearance of the red sequence of galaxies in proto-clusters at 2 lsimzlsim 3
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Adelman-McCarthy J
(2007)
The Fifth Data Release of the Sloan Digital Sky Survey
in The Astrophysical Journal Supplement Series
Kniazev A
(2009)
The faint outer regions of the Pegasus dwarf irregular galaxy: a much larger and undisturbed galaxy The faint outer regions of the PegDIG
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Fabian A
(2009)
The extended X-ray emission around HDF130 at z = 1.99: an inverse Compton ghost of a giant radio source in the Chandra Deep Field -North
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society: Letters
Mackey A
(2007)
The effect of stellar-mass black holes on the structural evolution of massive star clusters
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society: Letters