Cosmic Star-Formation History
Abstrak
Over the past two decades, an avalanche of new data from multiwavelength imaging and spectroscopic surveys has revolutionized our view of galaxy formation and evolution. Here we review the range of complementary techniques and theoretical tools that allow astronomers to map the cosmic history of star formation, heavy element production, and reionization of the Universe from the cosmic “dark ages” to the present epoch. A consistent picture is emerging, whereby the star-formation rate density peaked approximately 3.5 Gyr after the Big Bang, at z≈1.9, and declined exponentially at later times, with an e-folding timescale of 3.9 Gyr. Half of the stellar mass observed today was formed before a redshift z = 1.3. About 25% formed before the peak of the cosmic star-formation rate density, and another 25% formed after z = 0.7. Less than ∼1% of today's stars formed during the epoch of reionization. Under the assumption of a universal initial mass function, the global stellar mass density inferred at any epoch match...
Topik & Kata Kunci
Penulis (2)
P. Madau
M. Dickinson
Akses Cepat
- Tahun Terbit
- 1996
- Bahasa
- en
- Total Sitasi
- 2870×
- Sumber Database
- Semantic Scholar
- DOI
- 10.1146/annurev-astro-081811-125615
- Akses
- Open Access ✓