Deep Wide-Field Surveys of Emission-Line Galaxies

主要研究人员和他的团队将利用国家科学基金会已经资助的两台新仪器进行初步的科学验证：麦哲伦6.5米望远镜上的马里兰-麦哲伦可调谐滤光器(光学波段)和国家光学天文台(国家光学天文台)4米望远镜上的极宽视场红外马赛克(近红外波段)。该项目还将以实施充电洗牌/频率切换的形式为升级提供资金，并为MMTF提供稳定的用户支持。这些仪器投入使用后，主要的科学目标是研究红移z~1-8的遥远线发射星系，测量这些时期的恒星形成率。这两种仪器分别实现了光学和近红外波段的窄带成像，探测效率提高了近一个数量级。该项目将对天文学界产生广泛和长期的影响。这些独特的仪器将使美国天文学社区的很大一部分人受益，包括几名博士生。红移大于7的恒星形成群的潜在发现可能会对下一代地面和天基设施的设计产生影响。马里兰大学的本科生和研究生将通过直接参与该项目的所有阶段而受益于这一努力。

AbstractAST 0606932 VeilleuxThe Principal Investigator and his team will carry out initial science verifications with two new instruments already funded by the National Science Foundation: The Maryland-Magellan Tunable Filter (MMTF, in the optical bands) on the Magellan 6.5m telescope and the NOAO (the National Optical Astronomy Observatory) Extremely Wide-Field Infrared Mosaic (NEWFIRM, in a near-infrared band) on the 4m telescope of NOAO. The project will also fund an upgrade in the form of implementing charge shuffling/frequency switching and provide stable user support for MMTF. After these instruments are commissioned the main science goal is to study distant line-emitting galaxies from redshift z~1-8, to measure the star-formation rate at these epochs. Both instruments enable narrow-band imaging in the optical and near-infrared bands, respectively, with a gain of nearly one order of magnitude in survey efficiency. The project will have a broad and long-term impact on the astronomical community. These unique instruments will benefit a significant part of the U.S. astronomical community including several PhD students. Potential discoveries of a star-forming population at redshift greater than 7 could have implications for the design of the next generation of ground- and space-based facilities. Undergraduate and graduate students at University of Maryland will benefit from this effort through direct involvement in all phases of this project.