Cosmology

Abstract:

The star formation history of the universe shows strong evolution with cosmological epoch. Although we know mergers between galaxies can cause luminous bursts of star formation, the relative importance of such mergers to the global star formation rate (SFR) is unknown. We present a simple analytic formula for the rate at which halos merge to form higher-mass systems, derived from Press-Schechter theory and confirmed by numerical simulations (for high halo masses). A comparison of the evolution in halo formation rate with the observed evolution in the global SFR indicates that the latter is largely driven by halo mergers at z > 1. Recent numerical simulations by Kolatt et al. (1999) and Knebe & Muller (1999) show how merging systems are strongly biased tracers of mass fluctuations, thereby explaining the strong clustering observed for Lyman-break galaxies without any need to assume that Lyman-break galaxies are associated only with the most massive systems at z similar to 3.

Abstract:

The current and forthcoming observations of large samples of high-redshift galaxies selected according to various photometric and spectroscopic criteria can be interpreted in the context of galaxy formation, by means of models of evolving spectral energy distributions (SEDs). We hereafter present STARDUST which gives synthetic SEDs from the far UV to the submm wavelength range. These SEDs are designed to be implemented into semi-analytic models of galaxy formation.

Abstract:

As the only two optical instruments appearing in its first fleet of instrumentation, the GEMINI MultiObject Spectrograph (GMOS) are indeed being developed as workhorse instruments. One GMOS will be located at each of the GEMINI telescopes to perform: a) exquisite direct imaging, b) 5.5 arcminute longslit spectroscopy, c) up to 600 object multislit spectroscopy, and d) about 2000 element integral field spectroscopy. The GMOSs are the only GEMINI instrumentation duplicated at both telescopes. The UK and Canadian GMOS team successfully completed their critical design review in February 1997. They are now well into the fabrication phase, and will soon approach integration of the first instrument. The first GMOS is scheduled to be delivered to Mauna Kea in the fall of'99 and the second to Cerro Pachon one year later. In this paper, we will look at how a few of the more interesting details of the final GMOS design help meet its demanding scientific requirements. These include its transmissive optical design and mask handling mechanisms. We will also discuss our plans for the mask handling process in GEMINI'S queue scheduled environment, from the taking of direct images through to the use of masks on the telescope. Finally, we present the status of fabrication and integration work to date.