Survey for the Study of Formation and Evolution of Galaxies
Active participation at the observational programs GOODS, GMASS, COSMOS and others, aimed at mapping the galaxy populations as a function of redshift and environment. These projects are establishing the observational facts that theoretical modelling will try to reproduce, and make use of all main observational facilities worldwide, both on the ground and in space, ensuring full multiwavelength coverage from X-rays to radio. The specific contribution to these projects focuses on the formation and evolution of early-type galaxies, and on the redshift range from 1.4 to 2.5, which is considered the epoch of emergence of the ETG population. Among the many results so far achieved in the frame of these projects and their spinoffs, worth mentioning are the following ones:
- GOODS: the discovery of a widespread population of Compton-thich AGNs among the star forming galaxies at redshift about 2 (Daddi et al.
- GMASS: the redshift determination and structural and stellar population analysis of the largest sample of ETGs at z>1.4 (Cimatti et al.
- COSMOS: the extraction of a unique sample of redshift 2 star forming galaxies suited for SINFONI follow up at the VLT for having a sufficiently bright star nearby.
Current plans foresee special efforts to be made with dedicated observational projects at the SUBARU and VLT telescopes. SUBARU is being used for multi object near-IR spectroscopy with MOIRCS of z>1.4 ETG candidates, and the VLT for AO+LGS-assisted integral field spectroscopy with SINFONI of the likely, star forming precursors of ETGs at redshift about 2.
People: A. Renzini
Collaboration: the GOODS, GMASS, COSMOS teams, with specially strong interactions with E. Daddi (Saclay), A. Cimatti (Bologna), S. Lilly (Zurich), N. Arimoto (Japan), C. Maraston (Portsmouth), A. Franceschini (Padova University, for the COSMOS proposal for Herschel), N. Foerster-Schreiber (MPE)
Publications: Daddi et al. (2007), astro-ph/0705.2832; Cimatti et al. (2008), A&A 482,21
Links: GOODS, GMASS, COSMOS, GRASIL tool