Determining when and why galaxies formed on cosmological timescales is one of the key problems in modern astrophysics.  Earlier work has shown that the cosmic star-formation rate density in the Universe was higher in the past, but we still do not know what kind of galaxies dominated those epochs.
 
GOYA will obtain near-infrared (JHK-bands) spectroscopy with GTC+EMIR for a large sample of galaxies representative of the Universe at 1.5<z<2.6. This redshift range (marked in red at the Figure) corresponds to the epoch of the Universe when the galaxies denominated “building blocks” transformed into the galaxy Hubble sequence as we know it now. GOYA will characterize the galaxy population at this critical period by measuring Hα, Hβ, [NII], and [OIII] fluxes and profiles for a representative sample of galaxies. These data will be combined with the already merged X-ray, UV, optical, near- and mid-IR imaging data, to obtain the most reliable estimations of the SFRs, metallicities, stellar and dynamical masses, AGN activity, and extinction properties of the galaxies which dominate the SFR density of the Universe at z>1.5. GOYA will substantially improve our understanding of the formation and evolution of star-forming galaxies and their connection to AGN.
 
 
 
galaxy origins and young assembly
last updated on March 2008 by jorG
guaix.fis.ucm.es
 
FIELDS EGS
 
GOALS early-type galaxies AGNs
 
Survey Strategy GOODS-N primeval galaxies star-forming galaxies cosmology Other
© J. Pérez-Gallego & R. Guzmán