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
Su J
(2011)
THE UDF05 FOLLOW-UP OF THE HUBBLE ULTRA DEEP FIELD. III. THE LUMINOSITY FUNCTION AT z ~ 6
in The Astrophysical Journal
Jarvis M
(2013)
The VISTA Deep Extragalactic Observations (VIDEO) survey?
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Cioni M
(2011)
The VMC survey I. Strategy and first data
in Astronomy & Astrophysics
Minniti D.
(2011)
The VVV Survey of the Milky Way: first year results
in Boletin de la Asociacion Argentina de Astronomia La Plata Argentina
Williams M
(2013)
The wobbly Galaxy: kinematics north and south with RAVE red-clump giants
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Blundell K
(2011)
The X-ray and radio-emitting plasma lobes of 4C23.56: further evidence of recurrent jet activity and high acceleration energies The X-ray and radio lobes of 4C23.56
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Russell H
(2010)
The X-ray luminous cluster underlying the bright radio-quiet quasar H1821+643
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Russell H
(2012)
The X-ray luminous cluster underlying the z = 1.04 quasar PKS 1229-021 The X-ray luminous cluster underlying PKS 1229-021
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Marinucci A
(2010)
The X-ray spectral signatures from the complex circumnuclear regions in the Compton thick AGN NGC 424
in Astronomy & Astrophysics
Raskutti S
(2012)
Thermal constraints on the reionization of hydrogen by Population II stellar sources Thermal constraints on hydrogen reionization
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society