A Comprehensive Spectroscopic Study of Gravitationally Lensed Dwarf Galaxies at the Peak Epoch of Star Formation

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The team will study the most distant dwarf galaxies known to astronomers. The dwarf galaxies are located behind clusters of galaxies. Gravitational lensing by the foreground clusters boosts the signals from the distant dwarf galaxies. This trick lets the team observe the otherwise-invisible dwarf galaxies. Observations from the ground and space will show how the dwarf galaxies form their stars and affect their environments. Senior team members will train junior team members. The team will engage with underrepresented students in local high schools, notably those of the Riverside County Juvenile Halls. The team will also develop online materials for teacher training.The team will investigate dwarf galaxies at z ~ 1.5-3.6. Their goals are to (1) conduct ground-based spectroscopy at optical and near-infrared wavelengths of 200 dwarf galaxies lensed by galaxy clusters; (2) combine those measurements with existing space-based measurements; and (3) examine the Lyman continuum escape fractions, the dust extinction, the gas outflows, the metallicities, and the "burstiness" of the star formation.