DGCE SIG Seminar

Using Faint Emission Lines to Study Galaxies at Cosmic Noon

Speaker

Allison Strom, Northwestern University

Abstract

A significant fraction of all stars in the Universe today formed during a 2-3 Gyr period around z~1-3, when both cosmic star-formation rate density and quasar number density reached their peak values. As a result, this epoch—commonly known as "Cosmic Noon"—represents a key phase in galaxy evolution and has been studied extensively over the last decade. In recent years, our ability to characterize galaxies at these redshifts has improved dramatically thanks to the capabilities of JWST, which has made it possible to detect extremely faint emission lines sensitive to a variety of physical properties, including gas temperature and hard ionizing radiation. I will review exciting new developments about z~1-3 galaxies, particularly related to galaxy chemistry and conditions in the interstellar medium (ISM), and highlight new results from CECILIA, a JWST program that obtained ultra-deep (30 hour) spectra of star-forming galaxies at Cosmic Noon. I will also discuss prospects for tracing the redshift evolution of ISM properties and using chemical abundance patterns to connect galaxy populations across the last 10 Gyr of cosmic history.

News Straight to Your Inbox

Subscribe to your community email news list

We will never share your email address.

Privacy Policy

Sign Up