We have used the Hubble Space Telescope's Advanced Camera for Surveys to measure the mass density function of morphologically-selected early-type galaxies in the Gemini Deep Deep Survey fields, over the redshift range 0.9 < z < 1.6. Our imaging data set covers four well-separated sight-lines, and is roughly intermediate (in terms of both depth and area) between the GOODS/GEMS imaging data, and the images obtained in the Hubble Deep Field campaigns. Our images contain 144 galaxies with ultra-deep spectroscopy, and they have been analyzed using a new purpose-written morphological analysis code which improves the reliability of morphological classifications by adopting a ‘quasi-petrosian’ image thresholding technique. We find that at z = 1 approximately 70% of the stars in massive galaxies reside in early-type systems. This fraction is remarkably similar to that seen in the local Universe. However, we detect very rapid evolution in this fraction over the range 1.0 < z < 1.6, suggesting that in this epoch the strong color-morphology relationship seen in the nearby Universe is beginning to fall into place.

We confirm the redshift of several z≃6 objects discovered by our imacs multislit emission-line survey. Their Lyα luminosities are lower than those of galaxies previously discovered using narrow-band imaging, as expected due to the excellent sky-supression inherent to this technique. Based on the line profiles of these objects, we argue that they are extremely young starbursts and find strong evidence for prominent galactic winds. This population of young galaxies is largely beyond the reach of current large surveys that use continuum selection.

Understanding the energy and matter content of the Universe and its evolution are key goals for the international astronomical community and all extremely large telescope projects. ELTs will bring a wide range of tools to bear on questions relating to the nature of dark energy and the formation and early evolution of galaxies. Natural seeing and ground-layer corrected instruments on ELTs will quantify the assembly of galaxies at modest redshifts, while near-IR diffraction-limited instruments will probe the internal structure of early galaxies and the epoch of first light and reionization.

The original Magellan partner institutions and the Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory, Texas A&M University, and The University of Texas at Austin have undertaken to construct an extremely large telescope in Chile. The Giant Magellan Telescope is built around seven 8.4m borosilicate honeycomb mirror segments, six of which are off-axis. The collecting area is equivalent to that of a filled aperture 21.5m in diameter, the angular resolution is equivalent to a filled 24.4m telescope. The telescope mount is highly compact and delivers light to the focal plane in two reflections. Instruments are mounted at either a low-background straight Gregorian focus, or to one of several folded Gregorian foci behind the center primary mirror segment. A set of candidate first generation instruments has been defined and conceptual design studies are underway. The first off-axis primary mirror segment has been cast and will soon be polished as part of a proto-typing program. The current schedule calls for first light in mid 2015. This contribution describes the telescope and the considerations that led to its design.

The early study of radio sources at visible wavelengths and the first empirical evidence that galaxies can have strong dynamical interactions are closely intertwined. Baade & Minkowski's (1954) model of Cygnus A as a pair of galaxies in collision, while now believed to be incorrect, presaged the merger-driven picture for the generation of radio sources (e.g. Heckman et al. 1986) by some 30 years. Morphological evidence for an association between mergers and radio loud AGN is seen in both the nearest radio galaxies (e.g. Cen A; Schweizer 1986) and in the most powerful sources at z ~ 0.1 - 0.3 (Stockton & Mackenty 1983; Hutchings et al. 1988; Heckman et al. 1986).

The 3CR catalogue of extragalactic radio sources is now completely identified for b > 15° and redshifts have been determined for > 98% of them (see Djorgovski et al. 1988 for the latest update). The radio galaxies in this catalogue span the redshift range from 0 to 2.48. This sample provides us with a unique opportunity to examine the optical and radio properties of a complete sample over a look-back time comparable to the Hubble time.

Optical identifications and redshifts are now available for nearly all 3CR radio galaxies (Spinrad et al. 1985; Djorgovski et al. 1988). Using new radio and optical observations, supplemented with data from the literature, we are conducting a systematic comparison of their radio and optical (emission-line and galaxy) properties, and their dependence on redshift. Here we present new results on the alignments of galaxies and their associated radio sources, and radio source asymmetries.

The quadratic functional equation f(f(x)) *–Tf(x) + Dx = 0 is equivalent to the requirement that the graph be invariant under a certain linear map The induced projective map is used to show that the equation admits a rich supply of continuous solutions only when L is hyperbolic (T2 > 4D), and then only when T and D satisfy certain further conditions. The general continuous solution of the equation is given explicitly in terms of either (a) an expression involving an arbitrary periodic function, function additions, inverses and composites, or(b) suitable limits of such solutions.

The two articles which follow, which deal with similar themes in quite different ways, arrived on the editorial table within a short time of each other. Since they are complementary, it seems appropriate to present them here under a common heading.