Collaborative Research: The Heavy Metal Survey: Stellar Metallicities and Chemical Abundance Patterns of Massive Galaxies out to z~2.3

随着星系的成长和衰老，它们的化学成分会因自身星星的形成以及它们与其他星系合并的历史而发生变化。在远距离，以前的研究只测量了正在活跃形成恒星的星系的化学成分。该项目将利用凯克望远镜上现有的新仪器来测量静止星系的化学成分，在这些仪器可到达的距离内，静止星系比恒星形成星系更常见。该项目将利用Keck上的MOSFIRE和LRIS摄谱仪对20个静止星系的金属丰度进行测量，测量范围为1.3-2.3。他们有16.5个晚上安排在凯克为这项调查。光谱分析完成后，研究小组将使用调查数据中的化学丰度模式、结构参数和恒星丰度模式，来限制宇宙学时间尺度上静止星系的组装历史和星星形成历史。该奖项反映了NSF的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的智力价值和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。

As galaxies grow and age, their chemical composition changes as a result of their own star formation as well as the history of any mergers that they may have had with other galaxies. At large distances, previous studies only measured the chemical composition of galaxies that were actively forming stars. This project will take advantage of new instruments available on the Keck telescope to measure the chemical composition of quiescent galaxies, which are more common than star-forming galaxies out to the distances accessible by these instruments. This data will then be used to provide information about the histories of distant quiescent galaxies.The project will use the MOSFIRE and LRIS spectrographs on Keck to obtain a survey of the metallicities of 20 quiescent galaxies in a redshift range of 1.3-2.3. They have 16.5 nights scheduled on Keck for this survey. Upon completion of the analysis of the spectra, the team will use the chemical abundance patterns, structural parameters, and stellar abundance patterns from the survey data to constrain assembly histories and star formation histories of quiescent galaxies over cosmological timescales.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.