Bars and their Impact on Galaxy Evolution over the Last Eight Billion Years

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Fresh evidence suggests that, over last eight billion years since redshift z~1, disk galaxies underwent a more quiescent evolution that was driven by minor mergers, tidally induced bar structures, and spontaneously induced bars. Recent studies have in fact demonstrated the abundance of bars out to z ~ 1. Thousands of galaxies drawn from the GEMS (Galaxy Evolution from Morphology and SEDs [Spectral Energy Distributions]) survey will make a large database, combining optical (Hubble Space Telescope, HST), infrared (Spitzer Space Telescope) and X-ray (Chandra X-Ray Observatory) data. The program is anticipated to deliver new results on the bar lifetime, the distribution of bar properties, and the impacts of bars on the structural properties (bulges and central mass concentrations), circumnuclear star formation, and central activity of their host galaxies. The program will provide a reference baseline for follow-up with the future Atacama Large Millimeter Array (ALMA), since it targets galaxies in the HST/Spitzer/Chandra Extended Deep Field South, a key legacy field for ALMA science.Through an outreach program named "Building a Bridge to High School Students", this project will provide opportunities for high-school students to learn about astronomy and research in workshops, in the classroom, via web-based resources, and via video conferences. It will influence hundreds of teachers and an estimated 21,500 high school students located all over Texas. Many of those impacted are minorities, particularly the growing Hispanic population.