The SMC as a probe of dust in the early Universe (GTO)
Abstract
We propose a comprehensive spectroscopic survey of the Small Magellanic Cloud (SMC), using the IRS and MIPS-SED. The SMC has a metallicity similar to high-redshift galaxies, and its proximity makes it a spatially resolved proxy for star-forming galaxies in the distant, early Universe. The sensitivity of the Spitzer Space Telescope allows us to to observe dust in nearly every stage of its life cycle in the SMC so that we can study how the interactions of dust and its host galaxy differ from more metal-rich systems like the Galaxy and the LMC. Our proposed observations concentrate on important classes underrepresented in the archive of SMC spectra such as young stellar objects, compact H II regions, objects in transition to and from the asymptotic giant branch, and supergiants. These observations, in combination with those already in the archive, will give us a complete picture of the dust in a metal-poor star-forming galaxy similar to those in the early Universe. We request 116 hours, 62 as IRS GTO time and 54 as GO time.
- Publication:
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Spitzer Proposal
- Pub Date:
- March 2008
- Bibcode:
- 2008sptz.prop50240S