Collaborative Research: MASSIVE - A Survey of the 100 Most Massive Galaxies within 100 Mpc

科学家们试图回答的一个关键问题是，我们宇宙中的超大质量星系是如何组装起来的。为了做到这一点，他们必须了解他们现在是如何组织的，以及他们是如何随着时间的推移而改变的。这项提议将完成一项雄心勃勃的对附近100个质量最大的星系的新调查，使用被称为积分场单位的强大仪器，使科学家能够同时获得关于星系中多个位置的组成和物理性质的信息。利用这些信息，他们可以创建一张三维地图，其中包括恒星和气体在星系中的位置，它们是如何移动的，以及它们的组成是什么。他们还可以确定这些星系中心的黑洞的质量。所有这些信息的组合产生了关于星系何时开始形成(它们的年龄)以及它们如何随着时间变化的重要线索，类似于树干上的年轮，它通过年轮的间距揭示了它们的年龄和生长模式的信息。此外，PI正在指导有才华的高中生，并让他们接触尖端科学研究。Co-Pi通过监狱教学倡议在新泽西州惩教设施教授囚犯。这项计划旨在对100个距离最近、质量最大的椭圆星系进行一次大型整场光谱调查。利用宽视场和自适应光学辅助的积分场光谱(IFS)相结合的方法，这个方案研究了这些星系的所有组成部分，从100pC尺度上的超大质量黑洞，到kpc尺度上的恒星种群和运动学，以及10-20kpc尺度上的暗物质晕。这项调查探索了到目前为止还没有系统研究的质量范围，并探索了比ATLAS-3D项目大一个数量级的体积。表征这些大质量星系的动力学和结构性质，对于了解宇宙中大多数恒星的质量集合史的趋势，以及阐明这些性质与超大质量黑洞增长的关系至关重要。作为研究的一部分，他们将测量27个星系的黑洞质量，这应该是这个质量范围内目前黑洞质量的两倍，并寻找底部重的IMF的直接证据。

One of the key questions scientists are trying to answer is how the very massive galaxies in our Universe were assembled. In order to do that, they must understand both how they are physically organized right now and how they have changed over time. This proposal will complete an ambitious new survey of the 100 most massive nearby galaxies using powerful instruments called integral field units, which allow scientists to obtain information about the composition and physical properties of multiple positions in galaxies all at the same time. Using that information, they can create a three-dimensional map that includes where the stars and gas are located in a galaxy, how they are moving, and what their composition is. They can also determine the mass of the black holes at the centers of these galaxies. The combination of all this information yields important clues to when the galaxies first began to form (how old they are), and how they changed over time, similar to the rings in tree trunks which reveal their ages and information about their growth patterns through the spacing of the rings. In addition, the PI is mentoring talented high school students and exposing them to cutting-edge science research. The Co-PI teaches inmates in New Jersey State Correctional Facilities through the Prison Teaching Initiative. This provides basic math and science training to underserved incarcerated minorities.This proposal seeks to conduct a large integral field spectroscopy survey of 100 of the nearest, most massive elliptical galaxies. Using a combination of wide-field and adaptive-optics-assisted integral field spectroscopy (IFS), this proposal examines all components of these galaxies, from supermassive black holes on 100 pc scales, to stellar populations and kinematics on kpc scales, and dark matter halos on 10-20 kpc scales. This survey probes a mass range that has not been systematically studied to date, and explores a volume more than an order of magnitude greater than that of the ATLAS-3D project. Characterizing the dynamical and structural properties of these massive galaxies is essential for understanding the trends in the mass assembly histories of the majority of stars in the universe, and for elucidating the relationship of these properties to the growth of supermassive black holes. As a part of the study, they will measure the black hole masses for 27 galaxies, which should double the current number in this mass range, and look for direct evidence of a bottom-heavy IMF.