Galaxy Evolution

Jim Schombert
University of Oregon

Friday, 28 February, 5 PM
Kidder 364, Oregon State University

Observational astronomy has one major advantage over any other physical science, the phenomenon of lookback time. The combination of enormous distances plus the finite speed of light permits the study of the behavior of objects in our distant past and, with respect to extragalactic astronomy, this allows direct observation into the evolutionary history of galaxies, as opposed to just deducing the past based on their contents at the current epoch. Unfortunately, the study of distant galaxies is inhibited by several difficulties primary being that their great distances imply small sizes and faint apparent luminosities. In addition, large distance also means the redshifting of regions of interest (e.g. the near-blue) into the technically and observationally troublesome near-IR. This talk presents the results of an investigation into the evolution of stellar populations, star formation history and the conditions of galaxy formation, all relatively new fields as our telescope collecting power has increased in recent years.