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
Koch A
(2009)
A SPECTROSCOPIC CONFIRMATION OF THE BOOTES II DWARF SPHEROIDAL
in The Astrophysical Journal
Koch A
(2008)
Kinematic and Chemical Constraints on the Formation of M31's Inner and Outer Halo
in The Astrophysical Journal
Koch A
(2008)
COMPLEXITY ON SMALL SCALES. III. IRON AND a ELEMENT ABUNDANCES IN THE CARINA DWARF SPHEROIDAL GALAXY
in The Astronomical Journal
Koch Andreas
(2007)
Chemical Abundances in the Carina Dwarf Spheroidal Galaxy
in Astronomische Nachrichten
Koch Andreas
(2008)
THE HIGHLY UNUSUAL CHEMICAL COMPOSITION OF THE HERCULES DWARF SPHEROIDAL GALAXY
in ASTROPHYSICAL JOURNAL LETTERS
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
Koposov S
(2007)
The Discovery of Two Extremely Low Luminosity Milky Way Globular Clusters
in The Astrophysical Journal
Koposov S
(2009)
A QUANTITATIVE EXPLANATION OF THE OBSERVED POPULATION OF MILKY WAY SATELLITE GALAXIES
in The Astrophysical 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
Koposov S
(2010)
CONSTRAINING THE MILKY WAY POTENTIAL WITH A SIX-DIMENSIONAL PHASE-SPACE MAP OF THE GD-1 STELLAR STREAM
in The Astrophysical Journal