Speaker:
Kevin Bundy
Institution:
IPMU
Speaker Link:
Date:
Friday, September 12, 2014
Time:
11:00 am
Location:
NS2 1201
ABSTRACT:
I will discuss the design and execution of a new survey to obtain resolved spectroscopy for 10,000 nearby galaxies called MaNGA (Mapping Nearby Galaxies at Apache Point Observatory). One of three core programs in the 6-year SDSS-IV project that began on July 1st, 2014, MaNGA will deploy 17 fiber-bundle IFUs across the Sloan 2.5m Telescope's 3 degree field-of-view, targeting a mass-selected sample with a median redshift of 0.03, typical spatial resolution of 1-2 kpc, and a per-fiber signal-to-noise ratio of 4-8 in the outskirts of target galaxies. For each galaxy in the sample, MaNGA will provide maps and measured gradients of the composition and dynamics of both stars and gas. I will present early results using a prototype instrument that highlight MaNGA's potential to shed light on the ionization and chemical enrichment of gas in galaxies, spatial patterns in their star formation histories, and the internal makeup of stellar populations. MaNGA's unprecedented data set will not only provide powerful new insight on galaxy formation and evolution but will serve as a valuable basis for followup observations with large telescopes.
Host:
Michael Cooper