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
Saito R
(2012)
VVV DR1: The first data release of the Milky Way bulge and southern plane from the near-infrared ESO public survey VISTA variables in the Vía Láctea
in Astronomy & Astrophysics
Smith R
(2010)
Warm dusty discs: exploring the A star 24 µ m debris population
in Astronomy and Astrophysics
Peñarrubia J
(2010)
Was the progenitor of the Sagittarius stream a disc galaxy?
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society: Letters
Casewell S
(2012)
WD0837+185: THE FORMATION AND EVOLUTION OF AN EXTREME MASS-RATIO WHITE-DWARF-BROWN-DWARF BINARY IN PRAESEPE
in The Astrophysical Journal
Hanson D
(2010)
Weak lensing of the CMB
in General Relativity and Gravitation
Taylor S
(2013)
Weighing the evidence for a gravitational-wave background in the first International Pulsar Timing Array data challenge
in Physical Review D
Kruijssen J
(2014)
What controls star formation in the central 500 pc of the Galaxy?
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Bonvin C
(2011)
What galaxy surveys really measure
in Physical Review D
González-Solares E
(2011)
Wide-field optical imaging on ELAIS N1, ELAIS N2, First Look Survey and Lockman Hole: observations and source catalogues Wide-field optical imaging
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Fabian A
(2013)
X-ray emission from the ultramassive black hole candidate NGC 1277: implications and speculations on its origin
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society: Letters