Galaxy formation and evolution 2010 - 2015

Lead Research Organisation: University of Cambridge
Department Name: Institute of Astronomy

Abstract

TThis programmatic five-year rolling grant application addresses one of the most important problems in extragalactic astronomy, the formation and evolution of galaxies. The task is one of the key goals in the current STFC Road Map and is a defining objective of virtually every national decadal survey world-wide. 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.

Publications

10 25 50

publication icon
Mortlock DJ (2011) A luminous quasar at a redshift of z = 7.085. in Nature

publication icon
Chen H (2010) A MATURE DUSTY STAR-FORMING GALAXY HOSTING GRB 080607 AT z = 3.036 in The Astrophysical Journal

publication icon
Russell H (2011) A merger mystery: no extended radio emission in the merging cluster Abell 2146 The merging cluster Abell 2146 in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society: Letters

publication icon
Calzetti D (2010) A METHOD FOR MEASURING VARIATIONS IN THE STELLAR INITIAL MASS FUNCTION in The Astrophysical Journal

publication icon
Canning R (2013) A multiwavelength view of cooling versus AGN heating in the X-ray luminous cool-core of Abell 3581? in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society

publication icon
Hinkley S (2011) A New High Contrast Imaging Program at Palomar Observatory in Publications of the Astronomical Society of the Pacific

publication icon
Pettini M (2012) A new, precise measurement of the primordial abundance of deuterium The primordial abundance of deuterium in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society

publication icon
Pinto C (2012) A phenomenological model for the X-ray spectrum of nova V2491 Cygni in Astronomy & Astrophysics

publication icon
Casewell S (2012) A photometric and astrometric investigation of the brown dwarfs in Blanco 1 Blanco 1 brown dwarfs in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society

publication icon
Cucchiara A (2011) A PHOTOMETRIC REDSHIFT OF z ~ 9.4 FOR GRB 090429B in The Astrophysical Journal

publication icon
Nardini E (2011) A reflection origin for the soft and hard X-ray excess of Ark 120 Blurred X-ray reflection in Ark 120 in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society

publication icon
Madej O (2010) A relativistically broadened O viii Lya line in the ultracompact X-ray binary 4U 0614+091 in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society: Letters

publication icon
Efstathiou G (2012) A simple empirically motivated template for the thermal Sunyaev-Zel'dovich effect Sunyaev-Zel'dovich template in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society

publication icon
Cackett E (2013) A SOFT X-RAY REVERBERATION LAG IN THE AGN ESO 113-G010 in The Astrophysical Journal

publication icon
Kordopatis G (2011) A spectroscopic survey of thick disc stars outside the solar neighbourhood in Astronomy & Astrophysics

publication icon
Bothwell M (2013) A survey of molecular gas in luminous sub-millimetre galaxies in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society

publication icon
Loh E (2011) A SURVEY OF MOLECULAR HYDROGEN IN THE CRAB NEBULA in The Astrophysical Journal Supplement Series

publication icon
Niederste-Ostholt M (2012) A tale twice told: the luminosity profiles of the Sagittarius tails The luminosity profiles of the Sagittarius tails in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society

publication icon
Amorisco N (2012) A TROUBLESOME PAST: CHEMODYNAMICS OF THE FORNAX DWARF SPHEROIDAL in The Astrophysical Journal

publication icon
Salomé P (2011) A very extended molecular web around NGC 1275 in Astronomy & Astrophysics

publication icon
Agnello A (2012) A VIRIAL CORE IN THE SCULPTOR DWARF SPHEROIDAL GALAXY in The Astrophysical Journal

publication icon
Fabian A (2011) A wide Chandra view of the core of the Perseus cluster A wider view of the Perseus cluster in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society

publication icon
Rauch M (2013) A z = 3.045 Ly a emitting halo hosting a QSO and a possible candidate for AGN-triggered star formation in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society: Letters