Stars and Galaxies at the Dawn of Time

Volker Bromm

University of Texas, Austin

How and when did the cosmic dark ages end? I will present the remarkable story of how the first stars and galaxies formed, a few hundred million years after the Big Bang. These first sources of light fundamentally transformed the early universe from an initially very simple state to one of ever increasing complexity. Until now, our knowledge of this period of cosmic dawn relies on supercomputer simulations. But over the next decade, a number of new-generation observational facilities, such as the James Webb Space Telescope and the Giant Magellan Telescope, will test our understanding. Completing our century-old quest, we will finally be able to open up a direct window into the very beginning of cosmic star and galaxy formation.