Massive Galaxies in the Early Universe
For my PhD, I have been working with the REBELS team to study a sample massive galaxies in the Epoch of Reionisation (z~6-8).
REBELS (Reionisation Era Bright Emission Line Survey) is a now-completed 70-hour large program using the Atacame Large Millimetre/submillimetre Array (ALMA), aimed at studying some of the earliest galaxies in the Universe, formed over 13 billion years ago (at redshifts greater than 6.5) during the Epoch of Reionization (EoR). The program targeted 40 of the brightest UV-emitting galaxies at redshifts z=6.5-8 over a seven square-degree area of sky. REBELS significantly expanded the sample of EoR galaxies with robust detections of dust continuum (16 detections) and [CII] (ionised carbon, 25 detections) emission. This rich dataset has laid the groundwork for further studies with the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST), as 12 of the [CII] brightest galaxies were targeted in Cycle 1 JWST programs (GO 1626 PI M. Stefanon and GO 2659 PI J. Weaver).
By building on successful pilot studies and pre-JWST discoveries, REBELS is providing essential insights into the dust and stellar mass growth in early galaxies and offers a robust starting point for deeper exploration with both ALMA and JWST. In my PhD, I am combining these ALMA and JWST observations to create a comprehensive multi-wavelength view of these massive high-redshift galaxies, with the goal of understanding rapid mass growth in the early Universe.