The Ecology of Galaxy Formation Within the ``Cosmic Web''

凯克重子结构巡天（Keck重子结构巡天）是对遥远宇宙的一项独特研究，它集中研究发生在100 - 120亿年前的星系增长高峰时代，在宇宙红移范围从2到3之间。KBSS测量质量、恒星形成速率、恒星数量、化学成分以及形成星系及其周围星系间气体的气流。两者之间的界面，环星系介质（CGM），是反馈过程由于注入的能量、动量、气体和金属而产生可测量响应的区域。首席研究员和合作者先前已经在调查领域中获得了大约2300个星系的广泛光学光谱数据，每个星系都以一个超亮类星体为中心。他们现在提议用新的、由美国国家科学基金会资助的、用于红外探测的多目标光谱仪（MOSFIRE）来观察这些相同的领域，这是他们的团队为凯克1号望远镜设计和建造的。有了这些新数据，研究小组计划大大改进红移和气体运动学的测量，比以前探测的更广泛的星系类型，恒星形成率和尘埃衰减（消光）的测量，以及星际和环星系介质中的元素丰度和物理条件。作为MOSFIRE的项目科学家，PI和该项目支持的研究生将协助更广泛的天文团体使用该仪器。研究生们还将领导一个天文学推广项目，与帕萨迪纳联合学区合作，将他们的热情和知识带入5 -8年级的课堂。

The Keck Baryonic Structure Survey (KBSS) is a unique study of the distant universe with intensive focus on the peak era of galaxy growth that occurred 10-12 billion years ago, over the cosmological redshift range from 2 to 3. KBSS measures the masess, star formation rates, stellar populations, chemistry, and gas flows in forming galaxies and the intergalactic gas surrounding them. The interface between the two, the circumgalactic medium (CGM), is the region where feedback processes will produce measureable response due to injected energy, momentum, gas, and metals. The Principal Investigator and collaborators have previously obtained extensive optical spectroscopic data on approximately 2300 galaxies in the survey fields, each of which is centered on a hyperluminous quasar. They now propose to observe these same fields with the new, NSF-funded, Multi-Object Spectrometer for Infra-Red Exploration (MOSFIRE), which their team designed and built for the Keck I telescope. With the new data, the team plans to obtain vastly improved measurements of redshift and gas kinematics for a wider range of galaxy types than previously probed, measurements of star formation rates and dust attenuation (extinction), and elemental abundances and physical conditions in the interstellar and circumgalactic media. The PI, as Project Scientist for MOSFIRE, and graduate students supported by this project will work to assist the broader astronomical community in using the instrument. The graduate students will also lead an astronomy outreach program, working with the Pasadena Unified School District to bring their enthusiasm and knowledge into 5th-8th grade classrooms.