Science

GLASS Science

GLASS has two main areas of scientific focus; Active Galactic Nuclei and Star Formation in radio galaxies.

Science Focus Area 1: Evolution of Active Galactic Nuclei
Research in this area has shown that most galaxies contain a super-massive black hole at their centre, which are believed to play an important role in the evolution of their host galaxies. Key questions that the observations from GLASS will allow us to address include the following
1. How complete is our picture of the life cycle of radio-loud AGN? What drives the evolution of radio-loud AGN?
2. What is the kinetic energy luminosity function of AGN?
3. What is the origin of radio emission from radio-quiet AGN, accretion of star formation?
4. What is the radio luminosity function and radio source count at 5.5 and 9.5 GHz? How does the radio spectral energy distribution of the radio source population change with flux density?

Science Focus Area 2: Tracing Star Formation with Thermal Radio Emission 
The next generation of radio surveys will likely be dominated by star forming galaxies, and the radio bands in question used for estimating star formation rates are free from dust extinction, which is ideal for looking at star formation in galaxies.
1. Calibration of the thermal and non-thermal radio star formation rate conversions
2. Thermal and non-thermal radio fractions