The Four-star Galaxy Evolution Survey: Opening a New Window into Galaxy Formation

四星星系演化（FourGE）调查将使用6.5米麦哲伦望远镜上的新型四星宽视场近红外成像相机，识别、编目和测量大约10,000个星系的宇宙学红移。该奖项支持的首席研究员、联合首席研究员、博士后研究员和研究生将在麦哲伦号上进行30个观测夜晚的过程中，使用五个定制的中波段滤光片获得六个不同天空场的深度成像。这些滤光片被设计用来精确地限制星系在1.5 - 3.5范围内的红移(z)。成像的深度将探测到像银河系大小的现代星系的前身一样小的星系。红移精度将足以追踪以星系为标志的潜在大尺度结构，并大大减少恒星形成率和恒星贡献的总质量的不确定性。通过瞄准这一红移范围，该调查将重点放在了恒星形成、星系和活动星系核（AGN）生长处于顶峰的宇宙学历史阶段。通过将调查数据与档案x射线数据相结合，研究小组计划测量不同环境下星系恒星质量的增长；限制AGN在阻止恒星形成中的作用；并通过与大规模模拟的比较来约束星系形成的理论。除了对博士后和研究生进行专业培训和指导外，该项目还将支持一系列更广泛的影响，包括通过虚拟天文台向社区发布调查数据，参与来自代表性不足群体的本科生，在本科课程和公开演讲中使用调查数据，以及为两名女性研究人员的早期职业发展做出贡献。

The Four-Star Galaxy Evolution (FourGE) Survey will identify, catalog, and measure the cosmological redshifts of approximately 10,000 galaxies, using the new Four-Star wide-field near-infrared imaging camera on the 6.5-meter Magellan telescope. The Principal Investigator, co-Principal Investigator, and the postdoctoral researcher and graduate student supported by this award will, over the course of 30 observing nights on Magellan, obtain deep imaging of six different sky fields using five custom-built medium-band filters. These filters have been designed to accurately constrain redshifts (z) of galaxies in the range 1.5 z 3.5. The depth of the imaging will detect galaxies as small as those likely to be the precursors of present-day galaxies the size of the Milky Way. The redshift precision will be sufficient to trace the underlying large-scale structure marked by galaxies and substantially reduce the uncertainties in star formation rates and the total mass contributed by stars. By targeting this range of redshifts, the survey focuses on the phase of cosmological history when star formation and the growth of galaxies and active galactic nuclei (AGN) were at their peak. By coupling the survey data with archival X-ray data, the team plans to measure the growth of the stellar masses of galaxies in different environments; to constrain the role of AGN in halting star formation; and constrain theories of galaxy formation through comparison with large-scale simulations. In addition to professional training and mentoring of the postdoctoral fellow and graduate student, the project will support a range of broader impacts including release of the survey data to the community through the Virtual Astronomical Observatory, involvement of undergraduate students from under-represented groups, and the use of survey data in undergraduate classes and public presentations, as well as contributing to the early-career development of two women researchers.