Lyman Alpha Emitting Galaxies at High Redshift: Direct Detection of Young Galaxies in a Young Universe

As late as 1995, the anticipated widespread population of primeval galaxies remained at large, lurking undetected at unknown redshifts, with undiscovered properties. We present results from our efforts to detect and characterize primeval galaxies by their signature high-redshift Lyman-alpha emission lines utilizing two observational techniques: serendipitous slit spectroscopy and narrowband imaging. By pushing these techniques to their utmost limits, we probe the Lyman-alpha-emitting galaxy...