Project reference: GA no. 101117541
PI: Irene Shivaei
Project website: https://sites.google.com/view/ercdistantdust
Project summary
At the core of galaxy evolution is the evolution of the baryonic matter, which shape the observable properties of galaxies. A crucial part of this baryonic matter is the interstellar medium (ISM), composed of gas and solid-phase metals called “dust”. Dust plays a fundamental role in galaxy formation and evolution— it absorbs and scatters starlight, altering how we see distant galaxies. It also facilitates the formation of key molecules, such as molecular hydrogen (H₂), and is essential to the physics and chemistry of the ISM and the star formation process. Yet, beyond our local universe, little is known about its properties, how it forms, and where it resides within galaxies.
By leveraging the unprecedented capabilities of the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST), the ALMA submillimeter/millimeter observatory, and other state-of-the-art telescopes such as Keck and VLT, ERC DistantDust takes a comprehensive approach—both physically and observationally—to uncover the unknowns about dust and the ISM in galaxies billions of light-years away, from the golden age of peak cosmic star formation activity to the dawn of the first galaxies. DistantDust aims to investigate the role of dust in the first half of the universe’s history using multi-wavelength space and ground telescopes to provide novel and key insights into the physical processes that drive star formation and galaxy evolution throughout cosmic time.
Keywords:
Galaxies – formation, evolution, clusters
Funding:
‘This work is supported by ERC grant DistantDust, GA No. 101117541’
‘Funded by the European Union. Views and opinions expressed are however those of the author(s) only and do not necessarily reflect those of the European Union or the European Research Council Executive Agency. Neither the European Union nor the granting authority can be held responsible for them.’
