The Rise and Fall of the First Galaxies

Wed 2nd Oct 2019 @2:15 PM, level 7, David Caro Building
Prof Ivo Labbe

Email: ilabbe@swin.edu.au

Abstract

The formation of the first galaxies is one of the most exciting frontiers in studies of galaxy evolution. We can now find galaxies when the universe was only a few percent of its current age, trace their rapid growth with time, and observe massive galaxies quench star formation only a billion years later. Yet significant questions and challenges remain. When did the first galaxies form? What are the properties of their stellar populations and their role in reionizing the intergalactic medium? And how do early galaxies relate to those observed at later times? I will review recent results from deep observations with ground- and space-based telescopes, highlighting recent insights from the final mission of the Spitzer Space Telescope and the Atacama Large Millimeter Array. Informed by these, I will look ahead as we prepare for the launch of the forthcoming James Webb Space Telescope.