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

科学家们试图回答的关键问题之一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的物理组织方式以及随着时间的推移如何发生变化。该计划将使用称为积分场单元的强大仪器完成对100个最大质量星系的雄心勃勃的新调查，这些仪器使科学家能够同时获得有关星系中多个位置的组成和物理特性的信息。 利用这些信息，他们可以创建一个三维地图，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黑洞的质量。 所有这些信息的结合产生了重要的线索，可以帮助我们了解星系何时开始形成（它们的年龄），以及它们如何随着时间的推移而变化，类似于树干上的年轮，通过年轮的间距揭示了它们的年龄和有关它们生长模式的信息。 此外，PI还指导有才华的高中生，让他们接触尖端科学研究。 共同PI通过监狱教学倡议在新泽西州惩教设施教授囚犯。 该计划旨在对100个最近的、质量最大的椭圆星系进行大型积分场光谱学调查。使用宽场和自适应光学辅助积分场光谱（IFS）的组合，该建议检查这些星系的所有组成部分，从100 pc尺度的超大质量黑洞，到kpc尺度的恒星种群和运动学，以及10-20 kpc尺度的暗物质晕。这项调查探测了迄今为止尚未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。描述这些大质量星系的动力学和结构特性对于理解宇宙中大多数恒星的质量组装历史趋势以及阐明这些特性与超大质量黑洞生长的关系至关重要。 作为研究的一部分，他们将测量27个星系的黑洞质量，这应该是目前这个质量范围内的两倍，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.