Professor Richard Elston will carry out a five-year observational program to study the formation of galaxies and the large-scale structure in the Universe. The core of the program is the first systematic study of the clustering of galaxies at redshifts between z = 1 and 2. By observing the galaxies in the universe in this redshift range, we are seeing the Universe as it was about 7-9 billion years ago. The measurement of the number and richness of galaxy clusters when the universe was young provides a direct constraint on the amplitude of the initial power spectrum of the universe, from which all structures formed. Additionally, this cluster data will be used to determine the mass density (Omega) and test for the presence of the cosmological constant (Lambda).
Prof. Elston has developed a technique to search for distant clusters of galaxies in the near-infrared (IR). The galaxies that populate the clusters tend to be red and therefore emit the bulk of their light in the near-IR. Thus, the clusters tend to stand out much more prominently in the near-IR than in the optical. It has been shown the contrast of the clusters can be further enhanced by selecting galaxies with near-IR wavelength bands J-K >-1.8. This makes it possible to select only galaxies at z > 1. This new technique was recently tested by observing a small galaxy cluster at z = 1.27 in a small near-IR survey that was just completed. The plan is to carry out a very wide field near-IR survey of 18 square degrees to K < 20.5 and J < 22.5. Due to the extreme optical faintness of the galaxies and since there is a lack of strong spectral features in the optical wavelengths for galaxies with 1.3 < z <2.3, galaxy redshifts using a near-IR multi-object spectrometer will be used to observe the galaxies. The obtaining the spectra for thousands of possible cluster members in the IR was beyond the capability of any previously existing astronomical instrument. The new FLAMINGOS infrared wavelength instrument, which Prof. Elston is building and is to be completed in the fall of 1999, will be used for these observations.
A scientific education program aimed at elementary school students; undergraduate university students and graduate students in astronomy will be integrated with this observational research program. Prof. Elston will organize an elementary school program that will bring both faculty and graduate students into elementary school classrooms throughout Alachua county Florida. Well focused "hands on" programs in astronomy will be presented in the classrooms. The will provide a teaching experience for graduate students.
A new observational lab course for undergraduate majors and minors will be developed. Groups of students will organize, carry out, and report on an observational project using a remotely controlled telescope with a CCD camera. Students will be encouraged to participate in all aspects of the observational and instrumentation programs.
Prof. Elston will be involved in heading an effort to restructure the graduate curriculum at the University of Florida. Students need to have a fairly broad education. An instrumentation course will be organized where a team of graduate students will build a CCD camera, interface it with a computer, take it to a telescope and complete an observational program. This program will teach the "real world" skills of team problem solving and management, while exposing the students to applied research areas such as instrumentation and computational science. Graduate students will be encouraged to integrate at least a small amount of instrument development with their thesis research program. There will be lectures by persons from industry and regional laboratories to speak to the students about alternative career paths. ***
