Kinematics of Distant Galaxies from Keck

Abstract

DEEP is a two-phase spectral survey of faint field galaxies with the Keck Telescopes. The goals include exploring galaxy formation and evolution, mapping distant large scale structures, and constraining cosmology. DEEP, since its inception in the early 1990's, has been distinguished by an emphasis on studying the kinematics and masses of distant galaxies. The major DEEP survey in the second phase (DEEP2) is scheduled to begin in 2002 using a new spectrograph and will mainly aim for a sample of 50,000 galaxies to I ~ 23. Until then, the first phase of DEEP science programs will have been concentrating on using existing Keck spectrographs to undertake spectral surveys of over 1000 galaxies that have also been observed with HST. I will highlight the study of rotation curves of distant spirals; the fundamental plane of faint, high-redshift E/S0s; the narrow velocity widths seen in luminous blue compact galaxies; and the diversity of kinematics seen in a small sample of high redshift (z ~ 3) galaxies. These DEEP pilot programs have clearly demonstrated the feasibility, importance, and potential of using kinematics to better understand distant galaxies.