Disks at high redshifts what we see and when do we see it? What don’t we see and why not?

Abstract

I review the observational evidence for massive disks at high redshifts. In an attempt to do something a little bit different, I will focus exclusively on galaxies at redshifts z > 1, where much of the action seems to be happening, but where our ignorance is particularly acute. To keep the discussion concrete, I pay particular emphasis to seven key papers (the ‘Magnificent Seven’) published in the last three years. Taken collectively, these papers do a fairly good job of describing what we see, and when we see it. I also use them as springboard to speculate about what we don’t we see, and why not.