ECOology for Galaxies using ALMA archive and Legacy surveys

Informazioni relative al progetto

ECOGAL

ID dell’accordo di sovvenzione: 101107795

DOI

10.3030/101107795

Progetto chiuso

Data della firma CE 31 Luglio 2023

Data di avvio 1 Ottobre 2023

Data di completamento 30 Settembre 2025

Finanziato da

• Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions (MSCA)

Costo totale

Nessun dato

Contributo UE

€ 214 934,40

Coordinato da

DANMARKS TEKNISKE UNIVERSITET
Denmark

Periodic Reporting for period 1 - ECOGAL (ECOology for Galaxies using ALMA archive and Legacy surveys)

Periodo di rendicontazione: 2023-10-01 al 2025-09-30

Sintesi del contesto e degli obiettivi generali del progetto

Galaxy formation and evolution are closely linked to the surrounding environment and to the properties of their host dark-matter haloes. To advance our understanding, it is essential to measure the non-stellar baryonic components in and around galaxies across a range of environments, thereby enabling a more complete characterisation of the connection between baryonic (normal) matter and dark matter halos. Motivated by this, ECOGAL (ECOology for Galaxies using ALMA Archive and Legacy surveys) aims to exploit the wealth of observations accumulated in the ALMA archive over the past decade to constrain the cold interstellar medium and to investigate both the cold and hot phases of the circumgalactic medium (CGM).

Lavoro eseguito dall’inizio del progetto fino alla fine del periodo coperto dalla relazione e principali risultati finora ottenuti

The first major achievement of ECOGAL is a public data release built from processing more than 200 ALMA programs accumulated over the past decade, and linking these products with ancillary data from facilities such as the Hubble Space Telescope (HST) and the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST). Secondly, using the ECOGAL data products, we measured the cold-gas content of a red-and-dead galaxy in the early universe (~10.3 Gyr ago) through its dust continuum emission, finding evidence that additional gas accretion from the cosmic web may be required. Thirdly, we attempted to measure the gaseous content in the outer disk regions of galaxies to connect these measurements with those obtained within galaxies -- including the second ECOGAL result -- although the data did not reveal significant emission from either the cold or hot gas phases, even in the deepest ALMA observations available. Finally, we explored potential solutions by assessing the limitations of current facilities. Our analysis suggests that a large single-aperture submillimetre telescope could substantially advance our ability to probe the gaseous components around galaxies.

Progressi oltre lo stato dell’arte e potenziale impatto previsto (incluso l’impatto socioeconomico e le implicazioni sociali più ampie del progetto fino ad ora)

A number of ECOGAL results advance beyond the current state of the art. First, the ECOGAL public data release constitutes the largest ALMA compilation assembled to date for extragalactic studies, and its linkage with publicly available JWST and HST data significantly enhances its legacy value. Second, the detection of dust in some of the most massive red-and-dead galaxies challenges existing paradigms of galaxy evolution, especially given conflicting reports of negligible dust content in similar systems; this tension highlights the need for dedicated follow-up studies. Finally, the non-detection of cold and hot gas-phase components -- even in some of the deepest ALMA maps -- underscores the limitations of current facilities and points to the need for next-generation submillimetre observatories.

A summary plot for a galaxy at z=3 based on the available data (ALMA, JWST) compiled by ECOGAL.