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
Fellhauer M
(2008)
The Cambridge N-Body Lectures
Walker M
(2008)
Systemic Proper Motions of Milky Way Satellites from Stellar Redshifts: The Carina, Fornax, Sculptor, and Sextans Dwarf Spheroidals
in The Astrophysical Journal
Maschietto F
(2008)
[O iii] emitters in the field of the MRC 0316-257 protocluster
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Siebert A
(2008)
Estimation of the tilt of the stellar velocity ellipsoid from RAVE and implications for mass models
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Xue X
(2008)
The Milky Way's Circular Velocity Curve to 60 kpc and an Estimate of the Dark Matter Halo Mass from the Kinematics of ~2400 SDSS Blue Horizontal-Branch Stars
in The Astrophysical Journal
Overzier R
(2008)
Lyman Break Galaxies, Lya Emitters, and a Radio Galaxy in a Protocluster at z = 4.1
in The Astrophysical Journal
Pettini M
(2008)
C, N, O abundances in the most metal-poor damped Lyman alpha systems
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Nestor D
(2008)
The quasar-frame velocity distribution of narrow C iv absorbers
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Dye S
(2008)
The SCUBA HAlf Degree Extragalactic Survey (SHADES) - VII. Optical/IR photometry and stellar masses of submillimetre galaxies
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Burningham B
(2008)
Exploring the substellar temperature regime down to ~550 K
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society