Program: GN-2013A-Q-23

Understanding how spiral galaxies like our Milky Way form and evolve is one of the major unsolved mysteries of modern astronomy. Cosmological simulations suggest that stable bars and spiral arms do not form until z ~ 1-2. At higher redshift, bars and spiral features are predicted to be short-lived, being easily destroyed by gravitational instabilities. The existence of high redshift grand design spirals poses problems for current cosmological simulations. Infrared integral field spectroscopy of the highest redshift spiral galaxies can provide important insight into the cause of early spiral structures and their stability. We propose to use NIFS with Altair LGS-AO to investigate the highest redshift known spiral galaxy (A1689B11, z=2.54). Thanks to gravitational lensing, this target is ideal for spatially resolved imaging with NIFS. We will use a powerful combination of resolved emission line kinematics and line ratio diagnostics to investigate the origin of the spiral feature. Our proposed observations and analysis will directly measure the relationship between galaxy mergers and early spiral structure in A1689B11 when the universe was only 3.3 Gyr old.