The Dusty Universe

尘封的宇宙

• 批准号: RGPIN-2018-06740
• 负责人: Chapman, Scott
• 金额: $ 2.48万
• 依托单位: Dalhousie University
• 依托单位国家: 加拿大
• 项目类别: Discovery Grants Program - Individual
• 财政年份: 2019
• 资助国家: 加拿大
• 起止时间: 2019-01-01 至 2020-12-31
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nserc-crsng.gc.ca/ase-oro/Details-Detailles_eng.asp?id=685390
• 关键词: Dusty; Universe

How did the Universe begin and where did our Galaxy come from? Addressing these questions involves studying millimeter-wave light emitted and affected by processes immediately after the Big Bang (the Cosmic Microwave Background - CMB), as well near-infrared through millimetre light from distant galaxies in the early Universe first forming their stars. The bulk of star formation is deeply obscured by dust, with ultra-violet radiation from young, hot stars being absorbed and reradiated at long wavelengths from dust heated to ~30K. In the formative periods of galaxies in the early Universe, when star formation rates (SFRs) were high enough to form the bulk of the stars in a typical galaxy in a few mega-years, the `proto-galaxies' were almost completely invisible at optical wavelengths. The first ~7billion years of the universe is an especially crucial time frame to explore -- it marks a time when gas mass fractions, gas accretion rates, and star formation rates were substantially higher, resulting in a fundamental difference in the growth of galaxies at early times. ***My proposal has two related components; ***(i) Understanding the Early Universe and Constraining Structure Formation through Millimeter-Wave Telescopes; ***(ii) Probing the Kinematic Evolution of Galaxies using Spectral Mapping improved by Adaptive Optics.***Both goals involve the use telescope data from various facilities to probe obscured star formation in primeval galaxies and proto-clusters of galaxies in the distant universe. These goals also involve development of instrumentation for large millimetre-wave telescopes/experiments (Polarbear, SPT, CCAT, and the Large Millimetre Telescope), and large optical telescopes (Gemini), culminating in the Thirty Meter Telescope - TMT (a recent Canadian partnership investment of $250Mil!). A recently commissioned, low background, test cryostat will be used to study optical and thermal properties of key components in millimetre-wave detectors to be deployed on currently implementing and upcoming CMB-polarization experiments. The ability to evaluate the performance of detectors at cryogenic temperatures will position Canada to be a partner of choice in future (sub)millimetre wave astronomy experiments.***The recently released midterm review of Canadian astronomy's decadal plan has called for maintaining the “second to none” status by endorsing “ongoing development of second generation instrument concepts” for TMT.***We are building an instrument Gemini-IRMOS that will serve as a pathfinder for the most scientifically sought after instrument capability on the TMT, the nearIR multi-object integral-field spectrograph (IRMOS). IRMOS was left for the second generation due to rapidly advancing adaptive optics technology, complexity, and the recognition that risk reduction requires successful implementation on a current telescope.

宇宙是如何开始的？我们的银河系又从何而来？要解决这些问题，需要研究大爆炸（宇宙微波背景- CMB）后立即发射和影响的毫米波光，以及来自早期宇宙中遥远星系的近红外毫米光。大部分星星的形成过程被尘埃深深地遮蔽了，来自年轻炽热恒星的紫外线辐射被吸收，并从加热到约30 K的尘埃中以长波长再辐射。在宇宙早期星系的形成时期，当星星形成率高到足以在几百万年内形成一个典型星系中的大部分恒星时，“原星系”在光学波长下几乎完全不可见。宇宙的最初70亿年是一个特别关键的探索时间框架-它标志着气体质量分数，气体吸积率和星星形成率都相当高的时期，导致早期星系生长的根本差异。* 我的建议有两个相关的组成部分：*（i）通过毫米波望远镜了解早期宇宙和约束结构形成; *（ii）使用自适应光学改进的光谱映射探测Galerkin的运动学演化。这两个目标都涉及使用来自各种设施的望远镜数据来探测遥远宇宙中原始星系和原星系团中被遮蔽的星星形成。这些目标还包括为大型毫米波望远镜/实验（Polarbear、SPT、CCAT和大型毫米波望远镜）和大型光学望远镜（双子座）开发仪器，最终开发了30米望远镜- TMT（最近加拿大合作投资2.5亿美元！）。最近委托的低背景测试低温恒温器将用于研究毫米波探测器中关键部件的光学和热特性，这些探测器将部署在目前正在实施和即将进行的CMB偏振实验中。能够评价探测器在低温下的性能，将使加拿大成为未来毫米波（亚）天文学实验的首选伙伴。最近发布的加拿大天文学十年计划中期审查呼吁通过支持TMT“正在进行的第二代仪器概念开发”来保持“首屈一指”的地位。我们正在建造一台Gemini-IRMOS仪器，它将作为TMT上最具科学追求的仪器能力的探路者，即近红外多目标积分场光谱仪（IRMOS）。IRMOS被留到第二代，由于快速发展的自适应光学技术，复杂性，并认识到，降低风险需要成功地实施目前的望远镜。