Luminosity-dependent studies of high-redshift galaxies

在过去的几年里，观测技术和技术的进步使人们有可能回到过去，直接观测高红移z&gt；2星系--也就是在星系还很年轻的时候。然而，主要是出于观测经济的原因，大多数对遥远星系的详细研究都集中在相对明亮的天体上。我们目前对暗星系知之甚少，这些星系实际上是构成人口的大部分，而且确实是形成遥远宇宙中大多数恒星和重化学元素的罪魁祸首。这个计划将解决我们知识中的这个不足。在接下来的几年里，我将领导一个旨在通过比较微弱和明亮的高红移天体来了解遥远恒星形成星系的性质的计划。我们将使用现有的和新的数据(将通过空间和地面望远镜获得)来测量早期遥远宇宙中非常微弱的星系的质量、年龄和其他性质。然后，通过将微弱的星系与位于同一纪元的发光星系进行比较，我们将能够理解是什么使它们彼此不同。了解这些差异将给我们提供重要的新见解，了解遥远宇宙中的星系是如何形成和演化的。

Over the last few years advances in observational technology and technique have made it possible to reach back in time and observe directly galaxies at high redshift, z>2 - i.e., at a time when galaxies were young. However, primarily for reasons of observational economy, most of the detailed studies of distant galaxies have focused on relatively luminous objects.  We currently know very little about faint galaxies that in fact form the bulk of the population by sheer number and that indeed are responsible for forming most of the majority of stars and heavy chemical elements in the distant universe.  This program will address this deficiency in our knowledge.  Over the next several years I will lead a program that will aim to understand the nature of distant star-forming galaxies by comparing faint and luminous high-redshift objects against each other. We will use existing as well as new data (to be acquired with space and ground-based telescopes) to measure the masses, ages, and other properties of very faint galaxies in the early, distant universe.  Then, by comparing faint against luminous galaxies located at the same epoch, we will be able to understand what makes them different from each other. Understanding these differences will give us important new insights into how galaxies in the distant universe form and evolve.