------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Summer research project: Understanding the Outer Structure of Lyman Break Galaxies at r > 1 kiloparsec ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Students: Nikhil Parthasarathy (Harker School) Mentor: Kamson Lai Will also be working with: Sara Ogaz Sandy Faber Lyman Break Galaxies (LBGs) are distant star-forming galaxies seen at a time when the Universe was only about 15% of its current age. LBGs show a variety of morphologies, ranging from round/compact to irregular/extended. Work done by our team hints at the possibility that the inner region (r < 1 kpc) of round/compact LBGs is bluer in color compared to the outer parts. This is significant because blue colors usually mean intense star formation, and hence that these very youthful galaxies are forming stars mainly at their middles. This is backwards from older galaxies today, which form new stars mainly in their outer parts. This project aims to expand on the previous work to include the irregular/extended LBGs. High resolution Hubble Space Telescope data form the backbone of this study. Images of many individual LBGs will be aligned and averaged together in order to statistically enhance the faint outer regions. The inner and outer colors of the irregular/extended LBGs will be measured and compared to the round/compact LBGs. The scientific goal is to understand the origin of the diverse morphologies and sites of star formation in LBGs using the structural and color information. The analysis will be done primarily using the Interactive Data Language (IDL). Common Unix tools and specialized astronomy software (e.g., Source Extractor and Galfit) will also be used.