The First Galaxies with the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST)
Lead Research Organisation:
University of Nottingham
Department Name: Sch of Physics & Astronomy
Abstract
The James Webb space telescope will launch at the end of 2017, providing a revolution in our understanding of the first galaxies within the first 500 Million years after the Big Bang. This update to the Hubble Space Telescope will allow us to probe the very first galaxies in a way that we are unable to do today. Nottingham is part of the team with guaranteed early data from JWST. The student hired for this project will at first lead some preparatory work using data we are acquiring with the Very Large Telescope (VLT) in Chile to determine the best targets for JWST. After launch the student will then take on a leadership role in investigating the stellar populations, ages, structure and star formation rates of the first galaxies. This will ultimately be interpreted in terms of theories of galaxies formation to test and exclude different ideas for how the first generations of galaxies and star formed.
People |
ORCID iD |
| Christopher Conselice (Primary Supervisor) | |
| Alex Griffiths (Student) |
Studentship Projects
| Project Reference | Relationship | Related To | Start | End | Student Name |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| ST/N504208/1 | 01/10/2015 | 31/03/2021 | |||
| 1793057 | Studentship | ST/N504208/1 | 01/10/2016 | 09/06/2020 | Alex Griffiths |
| Description | OST Collaboration. |
| Organisation | Space Telescope Science Institute |
| Country | United States |
| Sector | Academic/University |
| PI Contribution | Working on stress tests for the Origins Space Telescope team in order to extract and isolate object spectra from test datacubes using my AutoSpec software. I employ my algorithms and techniques to investigate how accurately spectra can be obtained from the testing datacube in order to deblend spatially confused galaxies. |
| Collaborator Contribution | Their expertise and collaboration has helped to develop my AutoSpec software and incorporate new methods in order to deal with problems that I had previously not considered. |
| Impact | No research outcomes to date. |
| Start Year | 2018 |
| Title | AutoSpec |
| Description | This software aims to provide fast, automated extraction of high quality 1D spectra from astronomical datacubes with minimal user effort. AutoSpec takes an IFU datacube and a simple parameter file in order to extract a 1D spectra for each object in a supplied catalogue. A custom designed cross-correlation algorithm helps to improve signal to noise as well as isolate sources from neighbouring contaminants. |
| Type Of Technology | Software |
| Year Produced | 2018 |
| Open Source License? | Yes |
| Impact | The software has only recently been released but there is already interest in its use. The software will provide researches with a tool for the automated extraction of object spectra which is not currently available elsewhere. The software also employs my novel algorithm which optimally identifies sources, directly from within the data and also successfully removes any contamination. |
| URL | https://github.com/a-griffiths/AutoSpec |