Collaborative Research: Addressing the Burning Questions in the Baryon Cycle at z~2

天文学家想了解星系是如何成长的。他们特别想知道为什么宇宙年轻时星星的形成速度最快。沙普利、雷迪和施泰德尔将分析用凯克望远镜获得的数千个遥远星系的观测结果。他们将研究流入和流出星系的物质如何影响星星形成的速度和其他关键的星系属性。在与世界望远镜大使计划的合作中，PI将开发跨夜空的互动图尔斯之旅。其中一次参观将展示望远镜如何充当时间机器。当地高中学生和他们的老师将被邀请参加加州理工学院的夏季研究连接计划。Shapley、Reddy和Steidel在Keck重子结构巡天（KBSS）和MOSFIRE深演化场巡天（MOSDEF）中发现了宇宙中处于星星形成高峰期（z~1.5-3.5）的代表性星系样本。一个子集的~20%也有深凯克/LRIS静止紫外光谱，和~100星系的积分场单位地图从凯克KCWI仪器。co-PI将建立强大的金属丰度测量的气体和恒星在这个时代的星系;他们将确定运动学和几何的气体流出和流入的基础上“下桶”星系光谱;他们将映射气体分布和运动学在更广泛的环星系介质（CGM），连接的CGM尺度的属性与星系尺度上的属性。总的来说，这些结果将测试和告知星系演化中重子循环的前沿模型。一个遗留的数据集组成的减少凯克MOSFIRE，LRIS和KCWI光谱数据将在公共档案中提供。这个奖项反映了NSF的法定使命，并已被认为是值得通过使用基金会的智力价值和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估的支持。

Astronomers want to understand how galaxies grow. In particular they want to know why the rate of star formation was highest when the Universe was young. Shapley, Reddy, and Steidel will analyze observations of thousands of distant galaxies obtained with the Keck Telescopes. They will investigate how material flowing into and out of a galaxy can affect the rate of star formation and other key galaxy properties. In partnership with the WorldWide Telescope Ambassadors Program the PIs will develop interactive tours across the night sky. One tour will demonstrate how telescopes act as time machines. Local high school students and their teachers will be invited to participate in a Summer Research Connection program at Caltech. The PI and her team will train the students to be future scientists.Shapley, Reddy, and Steidel have identified a representative sample of galaxies at the epoch of peak star formation in the universe (z~1.5-3.5) in the Keck Baryonic Structure Survey (KBSS) and the MOSFIRE Deep Evolution Field (MOSDEF) Survey. A subset of ~20% also have deep Keck/LRIS rest-UV spectra, and ~100 galaxies have integral- field unit maps from the Keck KCWI instrument. The co-PIs will establish robust metallicity measurements of gas and stars within galaxies at this epoch; they will determine the kinematics and geometry of gas outflow and inflow based on "down the barrel" galaxy spectroscopy; they will map the gas distribution and kinematics in the more extended circumgalactic medium (CGM), connecting the CGM-scale properties with those on the galaxy scale. Collectively, these results will test and inform forefront models of baryonic cycling in galaxy evolution. A legacy dataset consisting of the reduced Keck MOSFIRE, LRIS, and KCWI spectroscopic data will be available in a public archive.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.