We have learned much about galaxy evolution since z = 2, and something to even higher redshifts. How can it be that we know so little about! the star formation histories (SFHs) of individual galaxies? Although great progress has been made accumulating huge samples with only rudimentary properties, progress in galaxy evolution means connecting what we've learned to detailed measurements of the life-histories of specific –- not just representative –- systems.

We present the deepest colour-magnitude diagram (CMD) of M32 to date, obtained from deep (F435W, F555W) photometry of HST ACS/HRC images. Due to the high resolution of our images, the small photometric errors, and the completeness level of our data we obtain the most detailed resolved photometric study of M32 to date. The CMD of M32 displays a wide colour distribution of red giant branch stars, mainly due to a metallicity spread, a strong red clump and bright asymptotic giant branch stars. The detection of a “blue plume” in M32 indicates the presence of a very young stellar population. There is not a noticeable presence of blue horizontal branch stars, suggesting that an old population with [Fe/H] < −1.5 does not significantly contribute to the light or mass of M32 in our observed fields.

We observed two fields near M32 with the ACS/HRC (Program GO-10572, PI: T. Lauer) on board the Hubble Space Telescope, located at distances of about 1.8' and 5.4' (hereafter F1 and F2, respectively) from the center of M32. To obtain a very detailed and deep color-magnitude diagram (CMD) and to look for short period variability, we obtained time-series imaging of each field in 32-orbit-long exposures using the F435W (B) and F555W (V) filters, spanning a temporal range of 2 days per filter. We focus on our detection of variability on RR Lyrae variable stars, which represents the only way to obtain information about the presence of a very old population (larger than 10 Gyr) in M32 from optical data. Here we present results obtained from the detection of 31 RR Lyrae in these fields: 17 in F1 and 14 in F2. We claim we detected 7+4−3 RR Lyrae variables belonging to M32 in F1 thus indicating the presence of a metal-poor ancient population in M32.

We confirm the redshift of several z≃6 objects discovered by our imacs multislit emission-line survey. Their Lyα luminosities are lower than those of galaxies previously discovered using narrow-band imaging, as expected due to the excellent sky-supression inherent to this technique. Based on the line profiles of these objects, we argue that they are extremely young starbursts and find strong evidence for prominent galactic winds. This population of young galaxies is largely beyond the reach of current large surveys that use continuum selection.

In this paper I address three topics. The first regards the use of composite spectra as a tool to study the spectral evolution of galaxies in intermediate-redshift clusters. This technique is used to demonstrate the robustness of measurements of strong H$\delta$ absorption, indicative of mild-to-moderate starbursts, in a significant fraction of galaxies in these clusters. Second, I present some spectroscopic data on Abell 851 ($z=0.41$) that suggests that the starbursts in this cluster have been triggered by tidal encounters in infalling groups in the cluster. Third, I briefly describe the IMACS imaging-spectrograph, which has been built for the Magellan-Baade telescope, and, following the idea that the outskirts of clusters are “where the action is,” describe a large spectroscopic program to study “cluster building” using IMACS.To search for other articles by the author(s) go to: http://adsabs.harvard.edu/abstract_service.html

Photometry of the central parts of bulges and elliptical galaxies with the Hubble Space Telescope (HST) confirms and extends ground-based results. Most giant ellipticals have cuspy cores: at the “break radius” rb (formerly the core radius rc), the steep outer surface brightness profile turns down to a shallow inner power law I(r) ∝ r–γ, 0 ≤ γ ≲ 0.25. The corresponding slope of the deprojected profile is derived; the flattest cores allow box orbits to survive. Cores continue to satisfy fundamental plane parameter correlations like those found from the ground. In particular, HST confirms that the luminosity sequence of elliptical galaxies (from cDs to M 32) is physically unrelated to spheroidal galaxies like Fornax. The latter are closely related to late-type dwarfs. Low-luminosity ellipticals do not show cores: 0.5 ≲ γ ≲ 1.3. The most important new result is that global and core properties both show signs of a dichotomy between (i) low-luminosity ellipticals that rotate rapidly, that are nearly isotropic and oblate-spheroidal, that have disky-distorted isophotes, and that are coreless and (ii) giant ellipticals that are essentially nonrotating, anisotropic, and moderately triaxial, that are boxy-distorted, and that have cuspy cores.

We discuss HST imaging of eight spectroscopically-confirmed giant arcs, pairs and arclets. Although our HST observations include both pre- and post-refurbishment images, the depth of the exposures guarantees that the majority of the arcs are detected with diffraction-limited resolution. We present the size information on these distant field galaxies in the light of HST studies of lower redshift samples. We suggest that the dominant population of star-forming galaxies at z ∼ 1 is a factor of 1.5–2 times smaller in size than the equivalent population in the local field. This implies either a considerable evolution in the sizes of star-forming galaxies within the last ∼10 Gyrs or a shift in the relative space densities of massive and dwarf star-forming systems over the same time scale.

This report has two major purposes. First, we summarize here work by our team on the determination of the density of stars near the centers of a large sample of galaxies observed with the Hubble Space Telescope. There appear to be two varieties of elliptical galaxies (and bulges). The stellar densities near the centers of small elliptical galaxies exceed those of globular clusters and the density of the universe at the recombination epoch. The radial dependence of density and implied gravitational force seems inconsistent (at least in the case of the smaller elliptical galaxies) with a long-lived triaxial configuration. It therefore seems likely that the central regions of less luminous elliptical galaxies are axisymmetric. For the more luminous ellipticals, the central densities are far more modest and the presence of a distinct core (defined below) is generally well established. Even in these cases, however, we find few if any galaxies with analytic (Taylor expandable) stellar densities near the center.

A growing body of evidence from stellar dynamics in the nuclei of galaxies indicates that supermassive black holes of 107–109 M0 are common. The two best cases are M31 and M32, for which dark, central mass concentrations are the only straightforward interpretation. M87 continues to be a possible location of an even more massive black hole, but new observations and models by the author and D. Richstone effectively rule out the high black hole mass ∼5 × 109 M0 claimed by Sargent, Young, and collaborators. New data are available for several other nearby galaxies which also show kinematic signatures that could also be due to supermassive black holes. The Hubble Space Telescope will play the key role in strengthening these cases and eliminating, for the best examples, alternative models which do not require supermassive black holes.

The peculiar motions for spiral galaxies and elliptical galaxies within V = 3500 km/s are compared to the model predictions of the mass concentration (MC) velocity field model of Lynden-Bell et al. The large-scale motions defined by over 600 galaxies from three independent sets of data (Aaronson et al.; de Vaucouleurs and Peters and elliptical galaxies) are in substantial agreement with this model.

The study of galaxy evolution with large lookback times is dominated by two difficult issues. The first is a technical matter. Even the most luminous galaxies are faint (mr < 19) at significant lookback times (z ≳ 0.5), and so spectrophotometric observations of average galaxies challenge our present telescope and detector technology. The second issue is the selection of objects in an unbiased way in order to assemble a representative sample of galaxies at the remote epoch. It is far too easy to chase only exotic objects whose very peculiarity has brought them to our attention. Though observations of such objects may be fascinating and revealing, they may tell us little about the evolution of an typical galaxy like our own.

Motions of nearby elliptical galaxies reveal a large-scale velocity flow relative to cosmic rest towards the point 1=307±10, b = 9±10. The data are fit best by a two-component flow model. The smaller component is due to Virgo, which induces a velocity at the Local Group of 250 km/s. The main flow is due to a more massive concentration located a distance of 4350±350 km/s towards 1=307, b=9, which induces a local velocity here of 570±60 km/s. This larger component falls off away from the mass concentration roughly as r−1. The Centaurus double cluster and its neighbors are in the direction of the mass concentration but are in the foreground and are falling into it. Galaxy counts, radial velocity surveys, and the motions of nearby spirals are consistent with the above model. The IRAS dipole results are less clear but may also be consistent. There is evidence that the distant mass concentration is non-spherical, with the Centaurus cloud a substantial sub-condensation in the foreground. The formal agreement of the large-scale flow with biased (b=2) cold dark matter is low, but the simple methods used so far to assess this are uncertain. The main weakness of the present data in comparing to theory is the fact that they do not penetrate far enough to show the velocity field on all sides of the mass concentration. Sphericity and total extent of the flow are therefore still unknown.

The nature and existence of a second parameter needed to characterize the family of normal elliptical galaxies has been much discussed. The need for a second parameter has been demonstrated by the correlation of the residuals from the well–known magnitude–velocity dispersion relation for ellipticals with other observables such as ellipticity, mass–to–light ratio and Mg line strength or metallicity. Here, evidence for a correlation between residuals in the V26 – log σ relation and the strength of Hβ is presented, suggesting that variations in the stellar populations in Virgo elliptical cores may be an important secondary parameter.

We have used a new distance estimator for elliptical galaxies to determine the peculiar velocities, with respect to a uniform Hubble flow, of approximately 400 galaxies. The relative distances of five clusters in common with those of Aaronson et al. (1981, 1986), based on the infrared Tully-Fisher relation for spirals, are in good agreement.

We do not see the reflex of the Local Group motion with respect to the microwave background out to recession velocities of 6000 km s−1. Rather, the frame of elliptical galaxies appears to be moving with respect to the microwave background with a velocity of 600 km s−1 towards 1 = 312°, b = +6°. This motion is consistent with a re-analysis of the Rubin et al. (1976) data on the magnitude-diameter relation for ScI galaxies and with the nearby and cluster samples of Aaronson et al. (1982, 1986).

During the last two years we have completed an extensive project of direct CCD imaging with the Palomar 200 inch Four-shooter on several milliJansky and microJansky radio samples, now totaling 200 sources. The purpose is to study the nature and redshift distribution of the radio galaxies that cause the upturn in the milliJansky source counts (WMOKK) and to search for candidates of primeval radio galaxies.

Butcher and Oemler have reported that many clusters of galaxies at high redshift have enhanced populations of blue galaxies when compared to nearby clusters of similar type. Since this claim is based on broad-band colors alone, it is essential to obtain spectra of these blue objects to determine if they are actually cluster members. These spectra can also be used to provide a rough morphological classification of these objects that are too distant for detailed imaging with ground-based telescopes.

The following discussion is based on a paper of the same title co-authored with Allan Sandage in the January 1, 1983 Astrophysical Journal.