Physics Colloquium: Mapping the Cosmic Star Formation History in 4-D with TIM

Thursday, January 24, 2019

3:30 PM-4:30 PM

James Aguirre, PhD, University of Pennsylvania

Mapping the Cosmic Star Formation History in 4-D with TIM (the Terahertz Intensity Mapper)

Sensitive spectrometers in the far-infrared have the potential to greatly expand our understanding of how galaxies form and evolve over cosmic time, by peering directly into the otherwise dust-obscured regions in galaxies where stars form. Advances in detector technology now make such instruments possible, so long as they are carried aboard space or balloon-borne telescopes to get above the strong absorption of earth's atmosphere.

The speaker will describe the design and science goals of a newly funded instrument, the Terahertz Intensity Mapper (TIM), a balloon-borne telescope with a spectrometer designed to produce large area maps of atomic line emission which can provide crucial insight into the physical conditions of star formation. TIM will produce a three-dimensional view, as a function of cosmic time, of the distribution of galaxies and their production of stars spanning some 5 billion years of cosmic history, allowing us to understand in aggregate how galaxies have formed and changed.

Contact Information

Gordon Richards
gtr@physics.drexel.edu