Program: GS-2007B-Q-52
| Title: | High-z star formation under the microscope, Part I: GMOS-MOS spectroscopy of *candidate* cluster lenses in CFHTLS-W |
| PI: | Karun Thanjavur |
| Co-I(s): | David Crampton, Jon Willis, Mark Swinbank, Jean-Paul Kneib, Remi Cabanac, David Balam |
Abstract
The role of star formation and related baryonic processes in z>1 star forming (SF) galaxies is a key unknown in galaxy evolution models. Since such galaxies are very small and faint, gravitational lensing is effectively the only way to study these processes in detail. Due to the lack of systematic searches, few lenses, suitable for 8m-class resolved spectroscopy, are known. We have tackled the problem "at source" by analyzing 104/170 deg2 of the CFHT-LS wide field data for bright (mu < 23 i_mag.arc.sec-2) z>1 lensed galaxies. We present 4 discoveries (of 10 so far) for GMOS-MOS observations - to confirm source redshifts and emission line strengths, and thus identify high-quality targets for GMOS/IFU follow-up. Our ultimate goal is to determine SF rate, internal kinematics and SNe outflows on sub-galactic scales. This high impact study is part of a multi-wavelength survey on galaxy evolution by our Strong Lensing Legacy Survey collaboration.