Spitzer Space Telescope - General Observer Proposal #50086


Doubling the Sample of Bright Lensed LBGs Observed by Spitzer

Principal Investigator: Sahar Allam
           Institution: University of Wyoming

     Technical Contact: Sahar Allam, University of Wyoming

Co-Investigators: 
Douglas Tucker, Fermilab                                              
Huan Lin, Fermilab                                                    
Min-Su Shin, Princeton University                                     
Michael Strauss, Princeton University                                 
Andrew Baker, Rutgers University                                      
Dieter Lutz, MPE                                                      
J. Allyn Smith, APSU                                                  
Alice Shapley, Princeton University                                   

Science Category: high-z galaxies (z>0.5) 
 Observing Modes: IracMap IrsMap MipsPhot 
  Hours Approved: 91.0

Abstract:
Observations of galaxies at z=2-3 probe the epoch when star formation in
galaxies peaked and the morphologies of galaxies were being set. UV-selected
populations like the Lyman break galaxies (LBGs) have been extensively studied
at short wavelengths, but in most cases are too faint to permit observations
(particularly spectroscopy) in the mid-infrared. We propose new Spitzer
observations of five recently discovered LBG-like objects whose apparent fluxes
have been strongly boosted by gravitational lensing. By combining IRAC, MIPS,
and (irreplaceable) IRS data with our extensive ancillary datasets, we will
constrain our targets' star formation histories and stellar masses, bolometric
dust luminosities, starburst/AGN bolometric energetics, and degree of similarity
with various low-redshift templates. The proposed observations would more than
double the number of lensed UV-selected galaxies at high redshift that Spitzer
will have observed by the end of its cryogenic mission.