(Sub)millimeter Observations for the Study of Star Formation and the Formation and Evolution of Dust Through Cosmic Times

Understanding the emergence and evolution of star formation, the interstellar medium (ISM) in galaxies, as traced by dust emission, and how these two quantities relate to the underlying dark matter and larger scale structures is a major stated goal of extragalactic astronomy in the US Astronomy 2010 decadal survey. The primary tracers of star formation and the ISM are observable at FIR through (sub)millimeter wavelengths, yet most analysis on early Universe galaxy evolution has been done using optical/near­infrared studies because comparably sensitive Far­Infrared (FIR) through millimeter survey instruments have not existed, so few constraints exist on the rest-frame FIR properties of z>3 galaxies.  To bridge this and other gaps in our understanding, the US decadal survey recommended building the CCAT observatory, which was not realized due to funding constraints.  In order to compensate for this lack of observational capabilities, we are planning to install our millimeter continuum cameras GISMO and GISMO­2 at the LMT in Mexico, which will allow us to carry out a large fraction of the high­redshift survey science proposed for CCAT.

We will illustrate the anticipated scientific capabilities of our instruments by presenting scientific results we have already obtained from observations with GISMO at the IRAM 30 m telescope in Spain. These observations include deep millimeter surveys and spatially resolved Sunyaev-Zel’dovich effect observations of a high-redshift galaxy cluster.

Speaker: Johannes Staguhn, John Hopkins Univ.