Seeing how galaxies form: new observations from Hubble and Herschel

Distant galaxies are dimmed by cosmic dust. Around half their light is absorbed by dust and then reradiated in the far infrared. To get a complete picture of these galaxies, we must not only observe the visible light but also the 50% of the energy that is hidden from optical telescopes. This talk will cover recent research into the origin and evolution of galaxies that is being carried out with the two largest telescopes in space: Hubble and Herschel. With its new camera, the Hubble Space Telescope is now detecting galaxies as they appeared only 500 million years after the Big Bang. The Herschel Space Observatory, launched in May 2009, is detecting tens of thousands of galaxies in which many young stars are completely hidden by dust. Results from both telescopes are contributing to solving the puzzle of galaxy evolution. The talk will end by looking forward to future exploration of this ancient era that can be expected with the James Webb Space Telescope.

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About Steve Eales

Steve Eales is a professor of astronomy at Cardiff University. His main interest is in understanding the origin and evolution of galaxies, using telescopes in space and on the ground to observe how they have changed over the past 12 billion years. He is currently leading a major galaxy survey with the Herschel Space Observatory, called ATLAS. His book Origins, published by Springer, is about recent research into the origins of planets, stars, galaxies and the Universe.

Steve Eales' homepage