136 research outputs found
Galactic Archeology with 4MOST
4MOST is a new wide-field, high-multiplex spectroscopic survey facility for
the VISTA telescope of ESO. Starting in 2022, 4MOST will deploy more than 2400
fibres in a 4.1 square degree field-of-view using a positioner based on the
tilting spine principle. In this ontribution we give an outline of the major
science goals we wish to achieve with 4MOST in the area of Galactic Archeology.
The 4MOST Galactic Archeology surveys have been designed to address
long-standing and far-reaching problems in Galactic science. They are focused
on our major themes: 1) Near-field cosmology tests, 2) Chemo-dynamical
characterisation of the major Milky Way stellar components, 3) The Galactic
Halo and beyond, and 4) Discovery and characterisation of extremely metal-poor
stars. In addition to a top-level description of the Galactic surveys we
provide information about how the community will be able to join 4MOST via a
call for Public Spectroscopic Surveys that ESO will launch.Comment: To be published in "Rediscovering our Galaxy", IAU Symposium 334,
Eds. C. Chiappini, I. Minchev, E. Starkenburg, M. Valentin
Draft Nuclear Genome, Complete Chloroplast Genome, and Complete Mitochondrial Genome for the Biofuel/ Bioproduct Feedstock Species Scenedesmus obliquus Strain DOE0152z
The green alga Scenedesmus obliquus is an emerging platform species for the industrial production of biofuels. Here, we report the draft assembly and annotation for the nuclear, plastid, and mitochondrial genomes of S. obliquus strain DOE0152z
The size evolution of galaxies since z~3: combining SDSS, GEMS and FIRES
We present the evolution of the luminosity-size and stellar mass-size
relations of luminous (L_V>3.4x10^10h_70^-2L_sun) and of massive
(M_*>3x10^10h_70^-2M_sun) galaxies in the last ~11 Gyr. We use very deep
near-infrared images of the Hubble Deep Field-South and the MS1054-03 field in
the J_s, H and K_s bands from FIRES to retrieve the sizes in the optical
rest-frame for galaxies with z>1. We combine our results with those from GEMS
at 0.2<z<1 and SDSS at z~0.1 to achieve a comprehensive picture of the optical
rest-frame size evolution from z=0 to z=3. Galaxies are differentiated
according to their light concentration using the Sersic index n. For less
concentrated objects, the galaxies at a given luminosity were typically ~3+-0.5
(+-2 sigma) times smaller at z~2.5 than those we see today. The stellar
mass-size relation has evolved less: the mean size at a given stellar mass was
\~2+-0.5 times smaller at z~2.5, evolving proportional to (1+z)^{-0.40+-0.06}.
Simple scaling relations between dark matter halos and baryons in a
hierarchical cosmogony predict a stronger (although consistent within the error
bars) than observed evolution of the stellar mass-size relation. The observed
luminosity-size evolution out to z~2.5 matches well recent infall model
predictions for Milky-Way type objects. For low-n galaxies, the evolution of
the stellar mass-size relation would follow naturally if the individual
galaxies grow inside-out. For highly concentrated objects, the situation is as
follows: at a given luminosity, these galaxies were ~2.7+-1.1 times smaller at
z~2.5 (or put differently, were typically ~2.2+-0.7 mag brighter at a given
size than they are today), and at a given stellar mass the size has evolved
proportional to (1+z)^{-0.45+-0.10}.Comment: Accepted for publication in ApJ. The new version includes several
improvements: much accurate size estimations and a better completeness and
robustness analysis. Tables of data are included. 29 pages and 14 figures
(one low resolution
4MOST Consortium Survey 3: Milky Way Disc and Bulge Low-Resolution Survey (4MIDABLE-LR)
The mechanisms of the formation and evolution of the Milky Way are encoded in
the orbits, chemistry and ages of its stars. With the 4MOST MIlky way Disk And
BuLgE Low-Resolution Survey (4MIDABLE-LR) we aim to study kinematic and
chemical substructures in the Milky Way disc and bulge region with samples of
unprecedented size out to larger distances and greater precision than
conceivable with Gaia alone or any other ongoing or planned survey. Gaia gives
us the unique opportunity for target selection based almost entirely on
parallax and magnitude range, hence increasing the efficiency in sampling
larger Milky Way volumes with well-defined and effective selection functions.
Our main goal is to provide a detailed chrono-chemo-kinematical extended map of
our Galaxy and the largest Gaia follow-up down to magnitudes (Vega).
The complex nature of the disc components (for example, large target densities
and highly structured extinction distribution in the Milky Way bulge and disc
area), prompted us to develop a survey strategy with five main sub-surveys that
are tailored to answer the still open questions about the assembly and
evolution of our Galaxy, while taking full advantage of the Gaia data.Comment: Part of the 4MOST issue of The Messenger, published in preparation of
4MOST Community Workshop, see http://www.eso.org/sci/meetings/2019/4MOST.htm
4MOST Consortium Survey 1: The Milky Way Halo Low-Resolution Survey
The goal of this survey is to study the formation and evolution of the Milky
Way halo to deduce its assembly history and the 3D distribution of mass in the
Milky Way. The combination of multi-band photometry, Gaia proper motion and
parallax data, and radial velocities and the metallicity and elemental
abundances obtained from low-resolution spectra of halo giants with 4MOST, will
yield an unprecedented characterisation of the Milky Way halo and its interface
with the thick disc. The survey will produce a volume- and magnitude-limited
complete sample of giant stars in the halo. It will cover at least 10,000
square degrees of high Galactic latitude, and measure line-of-sight velocities
with a precision of 1-2 km/s as well as metallicities to within 0.2 dex.Comment: Part of the 4MOST issue of The Messenger, published in preparation of
4MOST Community Workshop, see http://www.eso.org/sci/meetings/2019/4MOST.htm
Large disk-like galaxies at high redshift
Using deep near-infrared imaging of the Hubble Deep Field South with ISAAC on
the Very Large Telescope we find 6 large disk-like galaxies at redshifts z =
1.4-3.0. The galaxies, selected in K_s (2.2 micron), are regular and
surprisingly large in the near-infrared (rest-frame optical), with face-on
effective radii r_e = 0.65"-0.9" or 5.0-7.5 h_70^-1 kpc in a Lambda-CDM
cosmology, comparable to the Milky Way. The surface brightness profiles are
consistent with an exponential law over 2-3 effective radii. The WFPC2
morphologies in Hubble Space Telescope imaging (rest-frame UV) are irregular
and show complex aggregates of star-forming regions ~2" (~15 h_70^-1 kpc)
across, symmetrically distributed around the K_s-band centers. The spectral
energy distributions show clear breaks in the rest-frame optical. The breaks
are strongest in the central regions of the galaxies, and can be identified as
the age-sensitive Balmer/4000 Angstrom break. The most straightforward
interpretation is that these galaxies are large disk galaxies; deep NIR data
are indispensable for this classification. The candidate disks constitute 50%
of galaxies with L_V > 6 x 10^10 h_70^-2 L_sun at z = 1.4-3.0. This discovery
was not expected on the basis of previously studied samples. In particular, the
Hubble Deep Field North is deficient in large galaxies with the morphologies
and profiles we report here.Comment: LaTeX, 5 pages, 2 figures, 1 table. Accepted for publication in the
Astrophysical Journal Letter
Exploring the Universe with Metal-Poor Stars
The early chemical evolution of the Galaxy and the Universe is vital to our
understanding of a host of astrophysical phenomena. Since the most metal-poor
Galactic stars (with metallicities down to [Fe/H]\sim-5.5) are relics from the
high-redshift Universe, they probe the chemical and dynamical conditions of the
Milky Way and the origin and evolution of the elements through nucleosynthesis.
They also provide constraints on the nature of the first stars, their
associated supernovae and initial mass function, and early star and galaxy
formation. The Milky Way's dwarf satellites contain a large fraction (~30%) of
the known most metal-poor stars that have chemical abundances that closely
resemble those of equivalent halo stars. This suggests that chemical evolution
may be universal, at least at early times, and that it is driven by massive,
energetic SNe. Some of these surviving, ultra-faint systems may show the
signature of just one such PopIII star; they may even be surviving first
galaxies. Early analogs of the surviving dwarfs may thus have played an
important role in the assembly of the old Galactic halo whose formation can now
be studied with stellar chemistry. Following the cosmic evolution of small
halos in simulations of structure formation enables tracing the cosmological
origin of the most metal-poor stars in the halo and dwarf galaxies. Together
with future observations and additional modeling, many of these issues,
including the reionization history of the Milky Way, may be constrained this
way. The chapter concludes with an outlook about upcoming observational
challenges and ways forward is to use metal-poor stars to constrain theoretical
studies.Comment: 34 pages, 11 figures. Book chapter to appear in "The First Galaxies -
Theoretical Predictions and Observational Clues", 2012 by Springer, eds. V.
Bromm, B. Mobasher, T. Wiklin
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