Collaborative Research: A Survey of Galaxy Evolution and Star Formation over the Past 4.6 Billion Years

星系的形成和演化是现代天体物理学中尚未解决的主要问题之一。天文学家希望了解星系最初出现的时间，恒星形成如何在宇宙历史上发生变化，以及星系的物理组成。该奖项将通过对过去46亿年来数百个星系的中性氢气进行大规模调查来解决长期存在的星系演化问题。这项名为CHILES(宇宙HI大型星系外调查)的调查利用了美国国家科学基金会的甚大射电望远镜阵列(VLA)的巨大计划来观测宇宙演化调查(COSMOS)领域的一部分。已经批准了超过1000小时的VLA观测时间，CHILE调查将首次提供单个星系在数十亿年的宇宙演化过程中中性气体分布和运动学的详细信息。这些数据和相关产品将向公众开放，为整个天文学社区提供一个遗留的数据集。这个合作奖项还将为美国各地的6名研究生提供资金，创造一个新的熟练射电天文学家队伍。最后，研究小组将把调查结果纳入他们的普通天文学课程和许多公开宣传报告中。

One of the principal unsolved problems in modern astrophysics is the formation and evolution of galaxies. Astronomers wish to understand when galaxies first emerge, how star formation changes over the history of the universe, as well as the physical constituents of galaxies. This award will resolve long-standing questions about galaxy evolution by performing a massive survey of the neutral hydrogen gas of hundreds of galaxies over the past 4.6 billion years.The survey, named CHILES (the COSMOS HI Large Extragalactic Survey), takes advantage of an enormous program with NSF's Very Large Array (VLA) of radio telescopes to observe a section of the Cosmic Evolution Survey (COSMOS) field. Over 1,000 hours of VLA observing time have been granted, and the CHILES survey will be the first to provide details on the neutral gas distribution and kinematics for individual galaxies over several billion years of cosmic evolution. The data and associated products will be made available to the public, providing a legacy dataset for the entire astronomical community.This collaborative award will also provide funding for six graduate students across the United States, creating a new cohort of skilled radio astronomers. Finally, the research team will incorporate the results of the survey into their general astronomy classes and in their numerous public outreach presentations.