First results from SDSS IV - MaNGA

Large spectroscopic surveys of nearby galaxies (like the Sloan Digital Sky Survey) have shaped our understanding of galaxy evolution. However, to gain insight into the processes shaping the various galactic sub-components, a three-dimensional view (giving access to both spatial and spectral information) is necessary. In recent years, integral field spectroscopy (IFS) surveys of the nearby Universe (Sauron, CALIFA, Sami) are filling in this gap.

 

In this talk, I will present the science drivers behind the design of SDSS IV - MaNGA, the largest of the current IFS surveys of the nearby Universe. The MaNGA survey has started operations in July 2014 and will observe 10.000 galaxies during a period of 6 years. MaNGA, with it large wavelength range (from 3700 to 10000 Angstrom) and statistically significant galaxy sample, hold great promise for the study of resolved chemical abundances, stellar populations properties and kinematics of gas and stars. 

 

As a preview of the insights MaNGA might deliver, I will describe in some detail a preliminary analysis performed on MaNGA commissioning data (obtained with a prototype of the MaNGA instrument), focusing on the study of the ionised gas properties and chemical abundances.

 
Date: 
24/11/2014 - 13:30
Speaker: 
Francesco Belfiore
Filiation: 
Cavendish Laboratory, Cambridge, UK


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