Résumé / Abstract Seminaire_IAP
« Secular evolution of massive galaxies at z~2 »

Reinhard Genzel
European Southern Observatory (ESO-Garching) (Garching, Allemagne)

I report on two major programs of studying for the first time the kinematic properties of z~1.5-3 galaxies with spatially resolved spectroscopy. With the adaptive optics assisted, integral field spectrometer SINFONI on the ESO VLT we have observed more than 70 galaxies and find compelling evidence for large, geometrically thick (turbulent), rotating disk galaxies in a majority of the objects we can spatially resolve. It appears that these star forming disks are driven by continuous, rapid accretion of gas from their dark matter halos, and that their evolution is strongly influenced by internal, secular evolution. In contrast in the 20 submillimeter bright galaxies we have investigated with the IRAM Plateau de Bure millimeter interferometer we find strong evidence for compact, major mergers. I will discuss the impact of these new observations on our understanding of galaxy evolution in the early Universe.
jeudi 15 janvier 2009 - 11:00
Salle des séminaires Évry Schatzman, Institut d'Astrophysique de Paris
Page web du séminaire / Seminar's webpage