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.
Organisations
Publications
Cormier D
(2014)
The molecular gas reservoir of 6 low-metallicity galaxies from the Herschel Dwarf Galaxy Survey A ground-based follow-up survey of CO(1-0), CO(2-1), and CO(3-2)
in Astronomy & Astrophysics
Diaz J
(2014)
Balancing mass and momentum in the Local Group
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Jeffries R
(2014)
The Gaia -ESO Survey: Kinematic structure in the Gamma Velorum cluster
in Astronomy & Astrophysics
Brewer B
(2014)
The SWELLS survey - VI. Hierarchical inference of the initial mass functions of bulges and discs
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Bergemann M
(2014)
The Gaia -ESO Survey: radial metallicity gradients and age-metallicity relation of stars in the Milky Way disk
in Astronomy & Astrophysics
Rémy-Ruyer A
(2014)
Gas-to-dust mass ratios in local galaxies over a 2 dex metallicity range
in Astronomy & Astrophysics
Hughes T
(2014)
A resolved analysis of cold dust and gas in the nearby edge-on spiral NGC 891
in Astronomy & Astrophysics
Hendricks B
(2014)
THE METAL-POOR KNEE IN THE FORNAX DWARF SPHEROIDAL GALAXY
in The Astrophysical Journal
Deason A
(2014)
TOUCHING THE VOID: A STRIKING DROP IN STELLAR HALO DENSITY BEYOND 50 kpc
in The Astrophysical Journal
Sacco G
(2014)
The Gaia -ESO Survey: processing FLAMES-UVES spectra
in Astronomy & Astrophysics