The current state and the future prospects of searches for protogalaxies (PGs) are reviewed. Many high-redshift objects are now known, mostly associated in some way with AGN, and at least some of them may be young galaxies. Quasars at z > 4 and high-z quasar pairs may mark galaxy formation sites. Deep field surveys for Lyα luminous galaxies powered by star formation alone have failed so far to reveal a large population of such objects, and the observed limits are in conflict with simple model predictions by three orders of magnitude. Some extinction by dust can account for this. However, strong limits from COBE place severe constraints on models of completely obscured PGs. New searches in the near IR are now beginning to probe the relevant line flux and number density regime, and first interesting PG candidates are being discovered. Searches from mid-IR to mm wavelengths would complement these efforts.

Understanding the formation of galaxies is certainly one of the major challenges in astrophysics. Observationally, the most important insight will be provided by the detection and study of primeval galaxies. With the large telescopes and the efficient detectors available today, it seems feasible to observe those early stages of galaxy evolution directly. Despite considerable efforts with different techniques (Cowie et al. 1990; De Propris et al. 1993; Pritchet & Hartwick 1990; Thompson et al. 1995; Djorgovski et al. 1993) no primeval galaxy is found yet, in contradiction with predictions by model calculations (e.g. Baron & White 1987). What could be the reason for this lack of sucess?

There was not much said at this conference about the damped Lyα absorbers, yet locally and at high redshift nearly all the neutral hydrogen in the Universe lies in the damped systems, so they may have much to tell us about when and how galaxies formed. This talk is concerned with the results of narrow-band imaging searches for Lyα emission from, and around, damped Lyα absorbers. There have been many such searches, but very few detections. Here we concentrate on two groups of galaxies at high redshift, z > 2, found by this technique. One of these is a recent discovery (Francis et al. 1995), and for the other we discuss some new observations (Warren and Møller 1995). A study of these two groups provides some clues to the nature of the damped absorbers at high redshift, and the rôle they play in the formation of galaxies.

Although a connection between certain classes of QSO absorption line systems and gas associated with galaxies was hypothesized long ago, the first systematic evidence supporting this was provided by Bergeron & Boissé (1991). Observing QSOs with known Mgll absorption lines at zabs < zQSO, they identified galaxies near the QSO sightline and spectroscopically confirmed that their redshifts matched those of the MgII absorption doublet.

Gas along the lines of sight to QSOs produces narrow absorption lines from ions of the most abundant elements: H, He, C, N, O, Si, S, Mg and Fe. Most lines have rest wavelengths of a few hundred Å but some have wavelengths λ ≥ 900 Å, sufficient that they can be redshifted into the optical. The absorbing gas is normally transparent, except for Lyman continuum absorption, and dust extinction at the highest columns, so we can see hundreds of gas clouds along a line of sight. We see more absorption from higher redshifts, because the universe was denser then and the absorbing “clouds” have roughly constant proper size.

Quasars offer three types of clue to galactic evolution. (i) The formation of massive black holes in the centres of young galaxies; (ii) Clues to subgalactic structure from quasar absorption spectra; (iii) Implications for redshifts higher than 5. These are briefly summarised in this text.

Research on galaxy formation is about to be inundated with data from the distant Universe and from highly realistic model simulations. First glimpses from this and other work are already showing the need for new paradigms of galaxy formation.

We have been conducting multi-color observations of a sample of classical ring galaxies with the aim of using them to study the formation and evolution of massive stars. We compare theoretical predictions for the expected color of the material inside the rings assuming that massive stars are created in the wake of the expanding wave. We present ground based data for VIIZw466 and HST data for IIZw28 and the Cartwheel which show strong color gradients.

Based on an R-band imaging survey of high-redshift (z ≈ 2) QSOs with the 4.2m WHT, we report the detection of extensions to the nuclear PSFs of two radio-quiet and one radio-loud QSO. The extensions are most likely host galaxies, with luminosities of at least 3 – 7% of the QSO luminosity. The most likely values for the luminosities lie in the range 6 – 18% of the QSO luminosity (R ∼ 19.8 – 20.9 mag). Our observations show that, if the extensions we have detected are indeed galaxies, extraordinary massive and luminous galaxies are not only characteristic of radio-loud objects, but of QSOs as an entire class. For a detailed description of this work, see Aretxaga, Boyle & Terlevich (1995) MNRAS, 275, L27.

NGC 7217 is an ordinary spiral galaxy with three rings whose size ratios are such that they can be associated with resonances, as for barred spirals. From 21-cm HI line data and BVRI CCD-images of this galaxy we find (cf. Verdes-Montenegro et al. 1995) : 1) a nuclear ring strong in Hα, 2) an inner ring seen clearly in a B - I colour map, and 3) an outer ring, with blue colours and strong HI-emission. After deprojection the disk has a mean ellipticity of 0.04 ± 0.01, while the position angle of the deprojected galaxy changes suddenly at 65″ radius, where the minor axis becomes major axis. Thus a very mild oval distortion could exist, with the outer ring perpendicular to the oval. Merrifield and Kuijken (1994) find from the stellar kinematics that about 20 – 30 % of the stars are in retrograde orbits.

Through computed synthetic spectra for individual stars in the Mg2 index region where different values of [Mg/Fe] were considered, and observed features Fe5270 and Fe5335 in a sample of 80 stars, we derived relations Mg2 and <Fe> = f(Teff, log g, [Fe/H], [Mg/Fe]). These relations were used to compute integrated indices for single aged populations, where number counts in colour-magnitude diagrams were used. A multi-population model was then built through a convolution of the single stellar population indices with a metallicity and luminosity distribution for elliptical galaxies, where a chemical evolution model includes enrichment by type II and I supernovae. A grid of 80 multi-population models was computed, by varying the efficiency of star formation rate. In Figure 1 are shown the results for [Mg/Fe] = 0.0, 0.3 and 0.6 compared to observational data by Worthey et al. (1992). An average value of [Mg/Fe] = 0.3 is found for the sample ellipticals.

A major puzzle in observational cosmology is the physical origin of a significant excess population of blue galaxies in the cores of distant rich galaxy clusters. This ‘Butcher-Oemler’ effect is now known to be a widespread starburst-related phenomenon. We test whether various spectral and photometrically-defined galaxy classes might represent different stages within a single cycle of star-formation. We compare the numbers of galaxies in various categories for three z = 0.31 clusters, AC103, AC114, and AC118, with evolutionary models generated according to the Bruzual & Chariot (1993) isochrone spectral synthesis code, assuming that some fraction of the model cluster population is viewed either before or during a secondary burst of star formation. We find good agreement between the model predictions and the number density of spectroscopically-confirmed members in the H δ versus B – R plane for a cluster population in which 30 per cent of the member galaxies have undergone secondary bursts of star formation within the last ∼ 2 Gyr prior to observation. As an additional check, we analyse a larger Kn –limited sample from newly-acquired infrared images and find good agreement between the models and the data in the U – I versus I – Kn plane for the same active cluster fraction. We conclude that the unusual galaxy population in distant clusters can be explained by a single cycle in which about 30 per cent of the cluster population experienced a secondary burst of star-formation within the last ∼ 2 Gyr.

Sgr A∗, the enigmatic radio source located at the dynamical center of the Galaxy, is firmly detected in the frequency range of ∼ 1 – few 102 GHz. For ∼ 0.5 – 1 GHz and in the MIR range only significant upper limits of the flux density are known. Between ∼ 1.5 and 600 GHz the time averaged flux density Sv is proportional to v1/3 (v: frequency). For frequencies higher than ∼ 600 GHz as well as for those lower than ∼ 1.5 GHz, Sv drops sharply.

We analyzed the galaxy population of two distant clusters of galaxies by means of optimized multi filter photometry. To this purpose, broad and narrow band filters have been chosen to detect features characteristic of elliptical (4000 Å break and the Mg2 band) and E+A galaxies (Hβ, Hγ and Hδ in absorption). Cluster membership and morphological types of the galaxies have been obtained by fitting the low-resolution spectral energy distributions with template spectra. Ten templates for E+A galaxies have been built up using Bruzual & Chariot (1993, ApJ 405, 538) population synthesis models with the assumption that these galaxies result from a strong star formation episode occuring in an early-type galaxy.

We report on optical/near-IR spectroscopy and photometry of a magnitude limited sample of interacting pairs and merging galaxies and a control sample of apparently isolated galaxies (1,2). All observations were carried out at ESO, La Silla. When compared to the control sample, the interacting galaxies show only a moderate increase of star formation activity, in the central area typically a factor 2-3. Starburst activity seems to be very rare. Ongoing CO observations (Aalto, Horellou, Booth, Wiklind, Bergvall) indicate that these objects are not particularly rich in molecular gas. The interacting/merging galaxies have relatively high optical luminosities and high FIR luminosities and temperatures but these parameters are not correlated with other star formation signatures. We conclude that the interacting and merging galaxies in this sample, from the global star formation aspect, do not differ dramatically from scaled up versions of normal, isolated galaxies. This could suggest that many of the most lumino components in interacting pairs could originate from multiple ‘quiet’ mergers.

Supergiant shells are the largest interstellar structures in galaxies. They are outlined by long H II filaments enclosing an inner space containing very little warm or cold gas. In the LMC, two supergiant shells have been detected in X-rays indicating the existence of hot gas: LMC 2 (Wang & Helfand 1992) and LMC 4 (Bomans et al. 1994). It is not yet clear whether the hot gas in a galactic halo is supplied by such supergiant shells.

HII galaxies are dwarf galaxies which are currently actively forming stars. We speculated that an interaction with an optically faint, but gas-rich object might be responsible for their enhanced star formation. This prompted us to search for companions with the VLA in the 21–cm line of HI. This has several advantages over optical searches (Campos–Aguilar et al. 1991, AJ, 106, 1784; Telles & Terlevich 1995, MNRAS, 275, 1), e.g., the direct availability of redshifts.

Using Monte Carlo style simulations of galaxy populations we create artificial faint galaxy samples which mimic those obtained by actual observational techniques. By comparison of samples selected according to total luminosity or luminosity within an isophote we are able to estimate the extent to which isophotal effects could cause number magnitude counts of faint galaxies to appear artificially steep (cf. McGaugh 1994, Phillipps 1993). We find that, if we assume a ‘standard’ non-evolving galaxy population (essentially that used by Broadhurst, Ellis & Shanks 1988 amongst others) then isophotal effects alone cannot account for the discrepancy between the observed steepness and no-evolution models, though they could significantly reduce the amount of evolution required and alter the median redshifts. Modifying the underlying galaxy population by the addition of a bivariate brightness dwarf component as observed in clusters (e.g. Irwin et al 1990) increases the significance of the isophotal effects, though only fractionally, despite the fact that such effects would be highly important for such a population considered on its own.

We have carried out an extensive program of observations of the ionized gas in 74 luminous elliptical and lenticular galaxies, selected to include a variety of properties in radio and X-ray emission, and in kinematical behavior. For each galaxy we have obtained broad-band R and V images and narrow-band images, centered at the Hα and [NII] emission lines, to derive the luminosity and distribution of the ionized gas. We found that a large fraction (≃ 70%) of E and S0 galaxies in our sample contain ionized gas. The gas morphology and size varies from small disks (mean diameter 1 – 4 kpc) to large filamentary structures (extending up to 10 kpc from the galaxy center). Comparison with previous measurements shows reasonable agreement for a few galaxies, but considerable scatter for a large fraction, possibly due to differences in the limiting flux thresholds.