Searching For Dusty Mergers In The FIR
Abstract
The Far-Infrared (FIR) gives a unique window into the star formation rates of high redshift, dusty galaxies, as it allows a vantage point into galaxies which would be heavily dust-obscured in the optical. Galaxies which are most luminous in the FIR are generally thought to be forming stars at a prodigious rate - young stars heat the dust within their host galaxy, which then reradiates in the FIR. Technical challenges abound, however, as even with a space-based telescope such as the Herschel Space Observatory, the resolution of the images returned is quite coarse. It is often assumed that a bright source in the FIR belongs to a single, highly star forming galaxy, but this is impossible to verify with low resolution images. In this talk I will discuss results from a statistical, multi-wavelength method of determining how many independent galaxies might be blended together in our FIR images, and what these results imply for our understanding of star formation and galaxy interactions in the earlier Universe.
- Publication:
-
American Astronomical Society Meeting Abstracts #233
- Pub Date:
- January 2019
- Bibcode:
- 2019AAS...23311503S