Collaborative Research: "The Physical Properties of Lyman Alpha Emitters at 2<z<3"

获奖者对莱曼α发射体（LAEs，可能是银河系等普通星系的祖先）进行了深地窄带调查，产生了259个星系的样本，这是迄今为止获得的最大的LAEs样本之一。受资助的工作将通过以下方式扩展巡天：1）通过研究低红移的补充样本来探索LAEs的演化; 2）测量LAEs的三维分布; 3）通过南非大型望远镜（SALT）上的罗伯特·斯托比摄谱仪和麦哲伦号上的LDSS 3摄谱仪，通过广泛的高分辨率光谱学探测LAEs的恒星风、动力学和HI柱密度，和4）在Gemini-South上用FLAMINGOS-2进行近红外光谱以测量系统红移和LAE金属丰度。这项研究有望在全面了解现今L* 星系的诞生和早期生长方面取得重大进展。这项工作的更广泛影响包括为本科生提供研究培训，向天文学界发布数据，以及参与宾夕法尼亚州立大学的“Astrofest”公开讲座活动。

The awardees have performed a deep ground-based narrow-band survey for Lyman-alpha emitters (LAEs, possible progenitors of ordinary galaxies like the Milky Way) that has produced a sample of 259 galaxies, one of the largest sample of LAEs yet acquired. The funded work will extend the survey by 1) exploring the evolution of LAEs by studying a complementary sample at lower redshift; 2) measuring the 3-D distribution of the LAEs; 3) probing the stellar winds, dynamics, and HI column densities of LAEs via extensive high-resolution spectroscopy with the Robert Stobie Spectrograph on the South African Large Telescope (SALT) and the LDSS3 spectrograph on Magellan, and 4) performing near-infrared spectroscopy with FLAMINGOS-2 on Gemini-South to measure systemic redshifts and LAE metallicities. The research promises significant progress towards a complete picture of the birth and early growth of the precursors of present-day L* galaxies.Broader impacts of this work include research training for undergraduates, release of data to the astronomical community, and participation in the "Astrofest" activity of public lectures at Penn State.