Tracking the Causes and Effects of Galactic Winds with Resolved Spectroscopy

由恒星形成爆发或活动星系核驱动的极端风可以从星系中喷出气体，但较弱的星系风更为普遍，它们对星系演化的长期影响可能是显著的。首席研究员（PI） Medling和她的团队将分析悉尼澳大利亚天文台的多目标积分场光谱仪（SAMI）星系调查数据，以确定外流并量化风对其宿主星系的影响。该项目将形成一个多层次的指导社区，在托莱多大学的学生、教师和工作人员之间建立联系，帮助学生在学位课程中脱颖而出。该团队将为里特天文馆（Ritter Planetarium）制作一个名为“星系的秘密生活”（The Secret Lives of Galaxies）的公开展览，该展览将以英语和西班牙语免费提供下载。该团队将使用3D冲击诊断，可以追踪比标准方法弱1-2个数量级的流出。该团队将结合SAMI气体和恒星运动学，使用洛厄尔发现望远镜上的快速红外成像仪进行近红外观测，并使用阿塔卡马大型毫米/亚毫米阵列进行分子气体观测。合并后的数据集将以相似的空间分辨率提供三种独立的激波气体示踪剂：10,000K的光学发射谱线，500K的近红外分子氢谱线和10-30K的一氧化碳发射谱线。这种对流出气体相结构的大样本空间分辨测量对于在星系演化模拟中限制反馈处方至关重要。该奖项反映了美国国家科学基金会的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的知识价值和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。

Extreme winds driven by bursts of star formation or active galactic nuclei can eject gas from a galaxy, but weaker galactic winds are more prevalent and their long-term impacts on galaxy evolution may be significant. Principal Investigator (PI) Medling and her team will analyze the Sydney Australian Astronomical Observatory Multi-object Integral-Field Spectrograph (SAMI) Galaxy Survey data to identify outflows and quantify the effects of winds on their host galaxies. The PI will form a multi-level mentoring community to build connections between students, faculty, and staff at the University of Toledo to help students excel in their degree program. The team will develop a public show for the Ritter Planetarium, “The Secret Lives of Galaxies”, which will be freely available for download in both English and Spanish.The team will use a 3D shock diagnostic that can trace outflows 1-2 orders of magnitude weaker than standard methods. The team will combine SAMI gas and stellar kinematics with follow-up near-infrared observations using the Rapid Infrared Imager Spectrometer on the Lowell Discovery Telescope and molecular gas observations using the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array. The combined datasets will provide three independent tracers of shocked gas at similar spatial resolutions: optical emission lines at 10,000K, near-infrared molecular hydrogen lines at 500K, and carbon monoxide emission at 10-30K. This large sample of spatially resolved measurements of the phase structure of outflowing gas is crucial for constraining feedback prescriptions in galaxy evolution simulations.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.