Understanding the Origin of the Hubble Sequence of Galaxies

AST-0307859Elis该计划将支持对在不同红移和回顾时间观测到的大样本星系的新的地面数据进行整理，目的是开发一个关于星系如何演化和聚集以产生今天所见的多样性形态的自洽观测故事。未来的方向是通过超深凯克10m光谱的内部动力学和Palomar 5m望远镜的深红外测光来确定正在演化的星系的潜在质量。这是一个自给自足的数据集，将用于跟踪遥远星系的增长速度，以及星系从一个形态类别到另一个形态类别的运动。这也是加州理工大学和加州大学的同事们已经在进行的DEEP2红移调查(在NSF的部分支持下)的宝贵补充。该团队拥有无与伦比的必要望远镜和仪器，将基于一个比目前任何可用的样本大一百倍的样本，制作出一幅关于形态进化和组装历史的综合图景。这项研究包括研究生和本科生培训，以技术的形式为其他研究人员提供有用的副产品，供其他研究人员在数据分析中使用，并将与加州理工学院一项名为用大望远镜解开宇宙史的新公共推广计划密切相关。*

AST-0307859EllisThis program will support the collation of new ground-based data for large samples of galaxies observed at various redshifts and look-back times with the goal of developing a self-consistent observational story of how galaxies evolve and assemble to produce the diversity of morphologies seen today. The way forward focuses on determining the underlying mass of an evolving galaxy, both from internal dynamics via ultra-deep Keck 10m spectroscopy and from deep infrared photometry with the Palomar 5m telescope. This is a self-contained data set, which will be used to trace the growth rate of distant galaxies and the movement of galaxies from one morphological category to another. It is also a valuable addition to the DEEP2 redshift survey already being conducted (with partial NSF support) by Caltech and University of California colleagues. The team has unrivalled access to the necessary telescopes and instrumentation, and will produce an integrated picture of morphological evolution and assembly history, based on a sample a hundred times larger than any currently available.The research includes graduate and undergraduate student training, useful spin-off in the form of techniques for other researchers to use in their data analysis, and will be intimately linked with a new public outreach program at Caltech entitled Unravelling Cosmic History with Large Telescopes.***