STARLYRE - The little sparks that trace galaxy assembly through cosmic time

Where did globular clusters form? Did they contribute to reionisation? What are the galactic physical conditions that drive clumpy star formations in rapidly assembling galaxies? These questions, challenging modern cosmology, are addressed in this program. We are witnessing an era of rapid changes brought by the unprecedented infrared capability of JWST.

We are uncovering galaxies which are brighter and form their stars in a bursty efficient manner. Our initial discoveries reveals that their morphologies are dominated by proto-globular clusters and stellar clumps. The STARLYRE project is set to study these little stellar sparks combining JWST capability to gravitational lensing.

By leveraging the JWST archive and proprietary observations obtained in open competition, we will build large statistical samples of stellar clusters and clump physical properties across the history of our Universe. 3D spectroscopy of a smaller representative sample will be analyzed to determine the coupling between stellar feedback and ionised interstellar medium.

Over 5-years, the STARLYRE project will deliver empirical relations that describe clustered star formation as a function of global galaxy physical properties and redshift and answer fundamental questions about the role played by proto-globular clusters in reionising the Universe.

The VR consolidator grant will support a post-doc, a PhD student, and my research time for a project that is set to deliver major advancements to field.