GAMA: towards a physical understanding of galaxy formation
Abstract
The Galaxy And Mass Assembly (GAMA) project is the latest in a tradition of large galaxy redshift surveys, and is now underway on the 3.9m Anglo-Australian Telescope at Siding Spring Observatory. GAMA is designed to map extragalactic structures on scales of 1kpc - 1Mpc in complete detail to a redshift of z~0.2, and to trace the distribution of luminous galaxies out to z~0.5. The principal science aim is to test the standard hierarchical structure formation paradigm of Cold Dark Matter (CDM) on scales of galaxy groups, pairs, discs, bulges and bars. We will measure (1) the Dark Matter Halo Mass Function (as inferred from galaxy group velocity dispersions); (2) baryonic processes, such as star formation and galaxy formation efficiency (as derived from Galaxy Stellar Mass Functions); and (3) the evolution of galaxy merger rates (via galaxy close pairs and galaxy asymmetries). Additionally, GAMA will form the central part of a new galaxy database, which aims to contain 275,000 galaxies with multi-wavelength coverage from coordinated observations with the latest international ground- and space-based facilities: GALEX, VST, VISTA, WISE, HERSCHEL, GMRT and ASKAP. Together, these data will provide increased depth (over 2 magnitudes), doubled spatial resolution (0.7"), and significantly extended wavelength coverage (UV through Far-IR to radio) over the main SDSS spectroscopic survey for five regions, each of around 50 deg^2. This database will permit detailed investigations of the structural, chemical, and dynamical properties of all galaxy types, across all environments, and over a 5 billion year timeline.
Keywords
Cite
@article{arxiv.0910.5123,
title = {GAMA: towards a physical understanding of galaxy formation},
author = {Simon P. Driver and Peder Norberg and Ivan K. Baldry and Steven P. Bamford and Andrew M. Hopkins and Jochen Liske and Jon Loveday and John A. Peacock and David T. Hill and Lee S. Kelvin and Aaron S. G. Robotham and Nick J. Cross and Hannah R. Parkinson and Matt Prescott and Chris J. Conselice and Loretta Dunne and Sarah Brough and Heath Jones and Rob G. Sharp and Eelco van Kampen and Seb Oliver and Isaac G. Roseboom and Joss Bland-Hawthorn and Scott M. Croom and Simon Ellis and Ewan Cameron and Shaun Cole and Carlos S. Frenk and Warrick J. Couch and Alister W. Graham and Rob Proctor and Roberto De Propris and Issi F. Doyle and Ed M. Edmondson and Robert C. Nichol. Daniel Thomas and Steve A. Eales and Matt J. Jarvis and Konrad Kuijken and Ofer Lahav and Barry F. Madore and Mark Seibert and Martin J. Meyer and Lister Staveley-Smith and Steven Phillipps and Cristina C. Popescu and Ann E. Sansom and Will J. Sutherland and Richard J. Tuffs and Steven J. Warren},
journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:0910.5123},
year = {2010}
}
Comments
GAMA overview which appeared in the October 2009 issue of Astronomy & Geophysics, ref: Astron.Geophys. 50 (2009) 5.12