Galaxy Environments in DEEP2: The Birth of the Red Sequence

Abstract

The DEEP2 Galaxy Redshift Survey is the first project to study the distant Universe by obtaining a data set comparable in size and nature to recent generations of local surveys. Made possible by the largest ground-based optical telescopes and new instrumentation, DEEP2 was designed to measure both the properties of galaxies at z ~ 1 and their distribution in space, enabling a number of unique tests of galaxy formation and evolution. Here, we first provide an overview of the survey, including the planned second major data release scheduled for early 2007. We then present new results from DEEP2 pertaining to the relationship between galaxy properties and environment at intermediate redshift, revealing where and when typical ~L* galaxies began quenching and moved onto the red sequence in significant number.