IAU01138
Presentation type requested: ORAL
TOWARDS OBSERVATIONS OF THE FIRST STARS AND GALAXIES
Daniel Schaerer
Geneva Observatory
The detection of the first building blocks of galaxies forming from primordial gas after the big bang (the so-called Pop III objects) remains one of the great challenges of contemporary astrophysics. We have constructed detailed spectral models of PopIII and extremely metal-poor galaxies based on state-of-the-art stellar evolution and atmosphere codes and photoionisation modeling. These models predict the rest-frame (E)UV - optical - near-IR spectrum of the first starbursts. Based on these models we discuss the expected observational properties of such galaxies and present possible detection methods for redshifts z > 6. We will also show results from simulations of photometric and spectroscopic observations of Pop III objects with 10m-class telescopes. Our investigation reveals that such objects should be detectable through peculiar signatures with existing facilities and observable in depth with proposed multi-object spectrographs in the near future before the area of the James Webb Space Telescope. Finally we will summarise results from our ongoing searches of Pop III or extremely metal-poor z > 6 galaxies.
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