Spitzer Space Telescope - Archive Research Proposal #40836


A Systematic Study of the Global Stellar Mass Density at 0.5<z<6

Principal Investigator: Haojing Yan
           Institution: Observatories of the Carnegie Institution of Washi

     Technical Contact: Haojing Yan, OCIW

Science Category: cosmology 
Dollars Approved: 77635 

Abstract:
Global stellar mass density is one of the two basic quantities that describe the
global star formation activities in the universe, and the study of its evolution
is of fundamental importance in understanding the mass assembly history of
galaxies. However, the measurement of this quantity remains scarce, largely due
to the lack of deep, wide-field IR imaging data that are critical in estimating
the stellar masses of galaxies. Spitzer/IRAC offers an unprecedented opportunity
in advancing this study. The investigator proposes to carry out a systematic
study of the stellar mass density at 0.5<z<6, utilizing the existing IRAC data
from these three Spitzer Legacy Surveys: GOODS, SIMPLE, and S-COSMOS. These IRAC
surveys have order-of-magnitude improvement in both depth and coverage as
compared to the near-IR surveys used by any pre-Spitzer studies beyond the local
universe, and hence will result in the best measurement of the stellar mass
density to date. This program will also produce the largest sample of galaxies
with estimates of redshifts, stellar masses and ages, being least affected by
cosmic variance. This catalog will enable many follow-up studies on different
subjects, and will be made public.