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
McConnachie A
(2008)
A Trio of New Local Group Galaxies with Extreme Properties
in The Astrophysical Journal
Walker M
(2009)
A UNIVERSAL MASS PROFILE FOR DWARF SPHEROIDAL GALAXIES?
in The Astrophysical Journal
Warren S
(2007)
A very cool brown dwarf in UKIDSS DR1
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Richardson J
(2009)
An HST /ACS view of the inhomogeneous outer halo of M31
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Zucker D
(2007)
Andromeda X, a New Dwarf Spheroidal Satellite of M31: Photometry
in The Astrophysical Journal
Zwaan M
(2008)
ARE THE KINEMATICS OF DLAs IN AGREEMENT WITH THEIR ARISING IN THE GAS DISKS OF GALAXIES?
in The Astronomical Journal
Koposov S
(2008)
Automated search for Galactic star clusters in large multiband surveys I. Discovery of 15 new open clusters in the Galactic anticenter region
in Astronomy & Astrophysics
Austermann J
(2010)
AzTEC half square degree survey of the SHADES fields â?? I. Maps, catalogues and source counts
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Begum A
(2008)
Baryonic Tullyâ??Fisher relation for extremely low mass Galaxies
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Belokurov V
(2010)
BIG FISH, LITTLE FISH: TWO NEW ULTRA-FAINT SATELLITES OF THE MILKY WAY
in The Astrophysical Journal