| Source DB | nl |
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| Institution | UGent |
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| Code | 90045b1a-3dfd-4586-9fc7-3de4af81f926 |
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| Unit | 3d80f44d-a6bd-4650-a26f-a7d882b99d2b
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| Begin | 10/1/2018 |
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| End | 12/14/2020 |
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| title fr |
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| title nl | Evolutie van sterrenstelsels achter de schermen: stof attenuatie in kaart brengen en begrijpen
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| title en | Galaxy evolution behind the curtain: mapping and understanding dust attenuation
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| Description fr |
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| Description nl | Galaxies continuously convert hydrogen gas into heavier elements through the creation andevolution of stars. An important tool to quantitatively study the evolution of the elements thatmake up the Universe is to measure the star formation rate over time. However, thismeasurement is considerably complicated by the presence of dust grains intermixed with the gas.Dust obscures on average one third of the stellar radiation, making it difficult, for instance, tocount newborn stars. It is thus particularly important that we understand how strong theattenuating effect of dust is on our observations of galaxies. Standard dust corrections rely onsimplified, average attenuation formulae. The new generation of spectrographs can actually mapthe light of galaxies both spatially and spectrally at high resolution. This is a goldmine for in-depthstudies of both stars and dust.We propose to gather the data described above for a large set of nearby galaxies, where dust isalso already directly observed in emission. This unique dataset, and new, state-of-the-artmodelling of the spectra, will enable us to quantify the dust attenuation in unprecedented detail.Doing this for a wide range of galaxies will enable us to accurately measure star formation behindthe curtain of dust obscuration. With these new insights, we will position our institute in thevanguard to analyse data from new telescopes such as the upcoming JWST, probing galaxies acrossthe universe until the cosmic dawn.
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| Description en | Galaxies continuously convert hydrogen gas into heavier elements through the creation andevolution of stars. An important tool to quantitatively study the evolution of the elements thatmake up the Universe is to measure the star formation rate over time. However, thismeasurement is considerably complicated by the presence of dust grains intermixed with the gas.Dust obscures on average one third of the stellar radiation, making it difficult, for instance, tocount newborn stars. It is thus particularly important that we understand how strong theattenuating effect of dust is on our observations of galaxies. Standard dust corrections rely onsimplified, average attenuation formulae. The new generation of spectrographs can actually mapthe light of galaxies both spatially and spectrally at high resolution. This is a goldmine for in-depthstudies of both stars and dust.We propose to gather the data described above for a large set of nearby galaxies, where dust isalso already directly observed in emission. This unique dataset, and new, state-of-the-artmodelling of the spectra, will enable us to quantify the dust attenuation in unprecedented detail.Doing this for a wide range of galaxies will enable us to accurately measure star formation behindthe curtain of dust obscuration. With these new insights, we will position our institute in thevanguard to analyse data from new telescopes such as the upcoming JWST, probing galaxies acrossthe universe until the cosmic dawn.
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| Qualifiers | - Galaxy evolution - sterrenstelsels - |
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| Personal | Viaene Sébastien, Baes Maarten |
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