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# Program Information for 2005B-0033

PI: Andrew J Connolly, U. of Pittsburgh, ajc@phyast.pitt.edu
Address: Department of Physics and Astronomy, 3941 O\'Hara Street, Pittsburgh, PA 15260 USA

CoI: Kenneth Chambers, U. of Hawaii
CoI: Istvan Szapudi, U. of Hawaii
CoI: Andrew Hopkins, U. of Pittsburgh
CoI: Samuel Schmidt, U. of Pittsburgh
CoI: Elizabeth McGrath, U. of Hawaii
CoI: Ryan Scranton, U. of Pittsburgh
CoI: Julia Bryant, U. of Sydney
CoI: Bhuvnesh Jain, U. of Pennsylvania
CoI: Jeremy Brewer, U. of Pittsburgh
CoI: Niraj Welikala, U. of Pittsburgh

Title: A Census of the High Redshift Radio Universe

Abstract: Radio galaxies have long been used to probe the epoch of galaxy formation. As the likely progenitors of present day elliptical galaxies they represent the first massive systems to form in the universe. Thus they provide an ideal sample with which to study the physical processes that drive gravitational collapse and the formation of structure at high redshift. Current high redshift radio samples are small, limited by the need to survey large volumes in order to identify sources in the tails of the luminosity function. Utilizing existing deep optical and radio surveys we can filter the low redshift systems to efficiently sample galaxies at redshifts z$>.7. We propose here to undertake a complete K-band census of$S_>0mJy sources at redshifts z$>.7 (covering a volume of \times10^$ \Mpc$^3$). This will enable the identification of radio galaxies close to the epoch of their formation and provide a complete sample of high redshift radio galaxies for spectroscopic and multi-wavelength follow-up. The primary science goals of this program are: to understand the timescales for the evolution of stellar populations at high redshift, to characterize the evolution of the number densities and luminosity functions of the most massive systems in the universe and to determine the clustering evolution of radio galaxies as a function of lookback time.

Program Type: Survey

Scheduled Nights:
Run 1 (2005B):  KP-4m/FLMN -- 6n on Sep 15 - Sep 20 2005
Run 1 (2006A):  KP-4m/FLMN -- 5.5n on Mar 13 - Mar 18 2006
Run 1 (2006B):  KP-4m/FLMN -- 6n on Oct 04 - Oct 09 2006
Run 1 (2007A):  KP-4m/FLMN -- 6n on Mar 29 - Apr 03 2007
Run 1 (2007B):  KP-4m/FLMN -- 6.5n on Jan 15 - Jan 21 2008
Run 2 (2006A):  KP-4m/FLMN -- 5n on May 10 - May 15 2006
Run 2 (2007A):  KP-4m/FLMN -- 6n on May 26 - May 31 2007

National Optical Astronomy Observatory, 950 North Cherry Avenue, P.O. Box 26732, Tucson, Arizona 85726, Phone: (520) 318-8000, Fax: (520) 318-8360

 NOAO >   Observing Info >   Approved Programs >   2005B-0033