The Astrophysics of the Obscured Universe Across Cosmic Time

尘埃改变了我们对天文物体的看法。它与来自遥远恒星的光线相互作用，使它们变得更加昏暗。尘埃也会辐射热量，天文学家可以用毫米和射电望远镜观测到这一点。早期星系含有更多的尘埃，这影响了我们对星系如何形成和随时间变化的理解。研究人员将使用多个望远镜来了解最遥远星系中的尘埃是如何影响宇宙的。来自代表性不足背景的本科生将接受相关天文学研究的培训。尘埃在星系的质量预算中只占微不足道的一部分(1%)，但对它们的综合光谱却有转化作用。它在紫外线和光学上对星光的有效吸收导致宇宙中一半的河外光在远红外和毫米(FIR/mm)下被热再辐射。然而，相对于恒星的发射过程，人们对星系的热尘埃发射知之甚少。尘埃对广泛的天体物理过程的重要性--从它在冷分子云凝聚形成恒星、星子凝聚或长波长恒星光的再处理中的作用--使它成为宇宙中需要详细观测的关键成分。该项目将使用各种FIR/mm观测数据集来全面描述星系在整个宇宙时间内的尘埃排放。这项研究的核心概念将被用来通过支持暑期研究和以公平为重点的创新教学活动来支持未被充分代表的学生留在天体物理学职业生涯中。这一奖项反映了NSF的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的智力优势和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。

Dust changes our view of astronomical objects. It interacts with light from distant stars to make them more dim. Dust also radiates heat, which astronomers can see with millimeter and radio telescopes. Early galaxies contained more dust, and that impacts our understanding of how galaxies form and change with time. The investigator will use multiple telescopes to understand how dust in the most distant galaxies affects the cosmos. Undergraduate students from underrepresented backgrounds will be trained in related astronomy research. Dust makes up a negligible fraction of the mass budget of galaxies (1%) and yet has transformative effect on their integrated spectra. Its efficient absorption of starlight in the ultraviolet and optical results in half of all extragalactic light in the Universe being thermally re-radiated in the far-infrared and millimeter (FIR/mm). Yet galaxies' thermal dust emission is poorly understood relative to stellar emission processes. The importance of dust to a wide range of astrophysical processes -- from its role in the condensation of cold molecular clouds to form stars, the coagulation of planetesimals, or the reprocessing of starlight at longer wavelengths -- makes it a crucial ingredient of the Universe requiring detailed observations. This project will use a diverse range of observational FIR/mm datasets to comprehensively characterize the dust emission of galaxies across cosmic time. Core concepts of this research will be used to bolster the retention of under-represented students in astrophysics careers through support of summer research and innovative equity-focused pedagogical activities.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.