May 13, 1999 Pratt Conference Room, 12:30 pm
New Windows on Galaxy History
Dr. James Lowenthal, UMass Amherst
Abstract
In the last decade, we have progressed from familiarity with only
nearby galaxies, corresponding to lookback times much less than a
Hubble Time, to quantitative measurements of galaxies more than 95% of
the way back to the Big Bang. The most distant objects now known are
not quasars but galaxies. We can finally address concrete questions
about the processes of formation and evolution, masses, star-formation
histories, and clustering properties of galaxies and proto-galaxies
using direct and copious evidence. Most of these advances were made
possible by new 8- and 10-m ground-based telescopes and the orbiting
Hubble Space Telescope working in the ultraviolet, optical, and
near-infrared; new facilities working in other wavebands will open new
windows on the early universe of galaxies in the next few years.