Advancing Astronomical Instrumentation: an Adaptive Optics Kinematic Study of z~1 Star-Forming Galaxies

• Main Author: Mieda, Etsuko
• Other Authors: Wright, Shelley A., Astronomy and Astrophysics
• Format: Thesis
• Language: unknown
• Published: 2017
• Subjects: adaptive optics; astronomical instrumentation; galaxy dynamics; galaxy evolution; galaxy formation; integral field spectrograph; 0606; Ellesmere Island
• Online Access: http://hdl.handle.net/1807/80192

This thesis has a dual focus on improving ground-based astronomical instruments and an observational study of distant star-forming galaxies to study galaxy formation and evolution. Of fundamental importance to this work are adaptive optics (AO) technology and integral field spectrographs (IFSs), both of which offer powerful means of studying high redshift galaxies. First, I describe the design and development of an instrument to characterize the vertical atmospheric turbulence using the SLODAR (SLOpe Detection and Ranging) method. This instrument was used in a campaign at Ellesmere island (∼ 80◦N) and determined that the site has half of the total turbulence residing in the ground layer ( Ph.D.