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
Bothwell M
(2010)
High-resolution CO and radio imaging of ULIRGs: extended CO structures and implications for the universal star formation law
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Niederste-Ostholt M
(2010)
The tidal tails of the ultrafaint globular cluster Palomar 1 Tidal tails of Palomar 1
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society: Letters
Lagattuta D
(2010)
COSMIC EVOLUTION OF VIRIAL AND STELLAR MASS IN MASSIVE EARLY-TYPE GALAXIES
in The Astrophysical Journal
Miller J
(2010)
ON RELATIVISTIC DISK SPECTROSCOPY IN COMPACT OBJECTS WITH X-RAY CCD CAMERAS
in The Astrophysical Journal
Sanders J
(2010)
Constraints on turbulent velocity broadening for a sample of clusters, groups and elliptical galaxies using XMM-Newton Turbulence in galaxy clusters
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Kennicutt RC
(2010)
Astrophysics: Young stars in young galaxies.
in Nature
Erlund M
(2010)
Two types of shock in the hotspot of the giant quasar 4C74.26: a high-resolution comparison from Chandra, Gemini and MERLIN Two types of shock within a hotspot
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Vasudevan R
(2010)
The power output of local obscured and unobscured AGN: crossing the absorption barrier with Swift / BAT and IRAS
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Werner N
(2010)
Feedback under the microscope - II. Heating, gas uplift and mixing in the nearest cluster core AGN heating and gas uplift in M87
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Raimundo S
(2010)
Radiation pressure, absorption and AGN feedback in the Chandra Deep Fields Absorption in the Chandra Deep Fields
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society