Invited Presentation

Multiple paths from star-forming to quiescence: tracing galaxy formation with deep spectroscopic survey.

Author(s): Po-Feng Wu, NAOJ

Presenter: Po-Feng Wu (National Astronomical Observatory of Japan)

The stars in galaxies hold the fossil record of galaxy evolution. Stars of different ages leave various imprints on galaxy spectra, from which we can reconstruct the formation histories of individual galaxies. Using deep spectroscopic surveys and ancillary data, I will demonstrate that galaxies follow multiple pathways evolving from star-forming to quiescent. On one hand, we see evidence for a process that slowly shuts off star formation and transforms star-forming galaxies to quiescent galaxies without necessarily changing their structures. On the other hand, there is likely another mechanism that rapidly quenches galaxies, an event that coincides with dramatic structural evolution. This complex behavior can only be revealed by a large sample of galaxies with high-quality spectra. I will discuss the new opportunities in extra-galactic archeology with future multi-object spectrographs with high multiplicity on large telescopes in extra-galactic archeology.