scholarly journals The Mitchell Spectrograph: Studying Nearby Galaxies with the VIRUS Prototype

2013 ◽  
Vol 2013 ◽  
pp. 1-16
Author(s):  
Guillermo A. Blanc
Keyword(s):  
Spatial Distribution ◽  
Cost Effective ◽  
Medium Size ◽  
Physical Parameters ◽  
Wide Field ◽  
Scientific Impact ◽  
Nearby Galaxies ◽  
Formation And Evolution ◽  
Field Unit ◽  
Integral Field

The Mitchell Spectrograph (a.k.a. VIRUS-P) on the 2.7 m Harlan J. Smith telescope at McDonald Observatory is currently the largest field of view (FOV) integral field unit (IFU) spectrograph in the world (1.7′×1.7′). It was designed as a prototype for the highly replicable VIRUS spectrograph which consists of a mosaic of IFUs spread over a16′diameter FOV feeding 150 spectrographs similar to the Mitchell. VIRUS will be deployed on the 9.2 meter Hobby-Eberly Telescope (HET) and will be used to conduct the HET Dark Energy Experiment (HETDEX). Since seeing first light in 2007 the Mitchell Spectrograph has been widely used, among other things, to study nearby galaxies in the local universe where their internal structure and the spatial distribution of different physical parameters can be studied in great detail. These observations have provided important insight into many aspects of the physics behind the formation and evolution of galaxies and have boosted the scientific impact of the 2.7 meter telescope enormously. Here I review the contributions of the Mitchell Spectrograph to the study of nearby galaxies, from the investigation the spatial distribution of dark matter and the properties of supermassive black holes, to the studies of the process of star formation and the chemical composition of stars and gas in the ISM, which provide important information regarding the formation and evolution of these systems. I highlight the fact that wide field integral field spectrographs on small and medium size telescopes can be powerful cost effective tools to study the astrophysics of galaxies. Finally I briefly discuss the potential of HETDEX for conducting studies on nearby galaxies. The survey parameters make it complimentary and competitive to ongoing and future surveys like SAMI and MANGA.

scholarly journals ESO Spectroscopic Facility

2017 ◽  
Vol 13 (S334) ◽  
pp. 242-247
Author(s):  
Luca Pasquini ◽  
B. Delabre ◽  
R. S. Ellis ◽  
J. Marrero ◽  
L. Cavaller ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
High Resolution ◽  
Wavelength Range ◽  
Focal Plane ◽  
Working Group ◽  
Field Of View ◽  
High Resolution Spectroscopy ◽  
Wide Field ◽  
Low Resolution ◽  
Field Unit ◽  
Integral Field

AbstractWe present the concept of a novel facility dedicated to massively-multiplexed spectroscopy. The telescope has a very wide field Cassegrain focus optimised for fibre feeding. With a Field of View (FoV) of 2.5 degrees diameter and a 11.4m pupil, it will be the largest etendue telescope. The large focal plane can easily host up to 16.000 fibres. In addition, a gravity invariant focus for the central 10 arc-minutes is available to host a giant integral field unit (IFU). The 3 lenses corrector includes an ADC, and has good performance in the 360-1300 nm wavelength range. The top level science requirements were developed by a dedicated ESO working group, and one of the primary cases is high resolution spectroscopy of GAIA stars and, in general, how our Galaxy formed and evolves. The facility will therefore be equipped with both, high and low resolution spectrographs. We stress the importance of developing the telescope and instrument designs simultaneously. The most relevant R&D aspect is also briefly discussed.

scholarly journals Spectroscopic study of formation, evolution and interaction of M31 and M33 with star clusters

2014 ◽  
Vol 10 (S312) ◽  
pp. 201-202 ◽  
Author(s):  
Zhou Fan ◽  
Yanbin Yang
Keyword(s):  
Globular Clusters ◽  
Stellar Population ◽  
Local Group ◽  
Spiral Galaxies ◽  
Star Clusters ◽  
Star Cluster ◽  
Physical Parameters ◽  
Cluster Systems ◽  
Nearby Galaxies ◽  
Formation And Evolution

AbstractThe recent studies show that the formation and evolution process of the nearby galaxies are still unclear. By using the Canada France Hawaii Telescope (CFHT) 3.6m telescope, the PanDAS shows complicated substructures (dwarf satellite galaxies, halo globular clusters, extended clusters, star streams, etc.) in the halo of M31 to ~150 kpc from the center of galaxy and M31-M33 interaction has been studied. In our work, we would like to investigate formation, evolution and interaction of M31 and M33, which are the nearest two spiral galaxies in Local Group. The star cluster systems of the two galaxies are good tracers to study the dynamics of the substructures and the interaction. Since 2010, the Xinglong 2.16m, Lijiang 2.4m and MMT 6.5m telescopes have been used for our spectroscopic observations. The radial velocities and Lick absorption-line indices can thus be measured with the spectroscopy and then ages, metallicities and masses of the star clusters can be fitted with the simple stellar population models. These parameters could be used as the input physical parameters for numerical simulations of M31-M33 interaction.

scholarly journals KOALA, a wide-field 1000 element integral-field unit for the Anglo-Australian Telescope: assembly and commissioning

2014 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ross Zhelem ◽  
Jurek Brzeski ◽  
Scott Case ◽  
Vladimir Churilov ◽  
Simon Ellis ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Wide Field ◽  
Field Unit ◽  
Integral Field

Fabrication of a wide-field NIR integral field unit for SWIMS using ultra-precision cutting

2016 ◽  
Author(s):  
Yutaro Kitagawa ◽  
Yutaka Yamagata ◽  
Shin-ya Morita ◽  
Kentaro Motohara ◽  
Shinobu Ozaki ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Wide Field ◽  
Ultra Precision ◽  
Field Unit ◽  
Integral Field

scholarly journals Galactic bulges: the importance of early formation scenarios vs. secular evolution

2014 ◽  
Vol 10 (S309) ◽  
pp. 163-164
Author(s):  
Marja K. Seidel ◽  
R. Cacho ◽  
T. Ruiz-Lara ◽  
J. Falcón-Barroso ◽  
I. Pérez ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
High Resolution ◽  
Stellar Mass ◽  
Stellar Content ◽  
Secular Evolution ◽  
Early Formation ◽  
Depth Analysis ◽  
Formation And Evolution ◽  
Field Unit ◽  
Integral Field ◽  
Negligible Contribution

AbstractWe study the stellar content of three galactic bulges with the high resolution gratings (R=7000) of the WiFeS integral field unit in order to better understand their formation and evolution. In all cases we find that at least 50% of the stellar mass already existed 12 Gyrs ago, more than currently predicted by simulations. A younger component (age between ∼1 to ∼8 Gyrs) is also prominent and its present day distribution seems to be much more affected by morphological structures, especially bars, than the older one. This in-depth analysis supports the notion of increasing complexity in bulges which cannot be achieved by mergers alone, but requires a non-negligible contribution from secular evolution.

scholarly journals A far-IR and optical 3D view of the starburst driven superwind in NGC 2146

2014 ◽  
Vol 10 (S309) ◽  
pp. 322-323
Author(s):  
Kathryn Kreckel ◽  
Lee Armus ◽  
Brent Groves ◽  
Mariya Lyubenova ◽  
Tanio Diaz-Santos ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Galaxy Evolution ◽  
Far Infrared ◽  
Gas Phases ◽  
Nearby Galaxies ◽  
Imaging And Spectroscopy ◽  
Field Unit ◽  
Dust Distribution ◽  
Integral Field ◽  
Infrared Survey ◽  
Fine Structure Lines

Galaxy outflows are a vital mechanism in the regulation of galaxy evolution through feedback and enrichment. NGC 2146, a nearby infrared luminous galaxy (LIRG), presents evidence for outflows along the disk minor axis in all gas phases (ionized, neutral atomic and molecular). We present new far-IR Herschel imaging and spectroscopy of this galaxy from the Key Insights on Nearby Galaxies: a Far-Infrared Survey with Herschel (KINGFISH) project, as well as new optical integral field unit spectroscopy, to map the kinematics and gas excitation in the central 5 kpc and trace the dust distribution (Kreckel et al.2014). We observe an increased velocity dispersion in the [OI] 62 um, [OIII] 88 um, [NII] 122 um and [CII] 158 um fine-structure lines that is spatially coincident with shocked gas above and below the disk.

scholarly journals Resolving the extended stellar halos of nearby galaxies: the wide-field PISCeS survey

2015 ◽  
Vol 11 (S317) ◽  
pp. 21-26
Author(s):  
D. Crnojević ◽  
D. J. Sand ◽  
N. Caldwell ◽  
P. Guhathakurta ◽  
B. McLeod ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Galaxy Formation ◽  
Theoretical Models ◽  
Wide Field ◽  
Stellar Content ◽  
Satellite Systems ◽  
Panoramic Imaging ◽  
Galaxy Formation And Evolution ◽  
Nearby Galaxies ◽  
Formation And Evolution ◽  
Centaurus A

AbstractIn the wide-field Panoramic Imaging Survey of Centaurus and Sculptor (PISCeS), we investigate the resolved stellar halos of two nearby galaxies (the elliptical Centaurus A and the spiral Sculptor, D ~ 3.7 Mpc) out to a projected galactocentric radius of 150 kpc with Magellan/Megacam. The survey has led to the discovery of ~20 faint satellites to date, plus prominent streams and substructures in two environments that are substantially different from the Local Group, i.e. the Centaurus A group dominated by an elliptical and the loose Sculptor group of galaxies. These discoveries clearly attest to the importance of past and ongoing accretion processes in shaping the halos of these nearby galaxies, and provide the first census of their satellite systems down to an unprecedented MV < −8. The detailed characterization of the stellar content, shape and gradients in the extended halos of Sculptor, Centaurus A, and their dwarf satellites provides key constraints on theoretical models of galaxy formation and evolution.

scholarly journals The Hector Survey: integral field spectroscopy of 100,000 galaxies

2014 ◽  
Vol 10 (S309) ◽  
pp. 21-28 ◽  
Author(s):  
J. Bland-Hawthorn
Keyword(s):  
Galaxy Evolution ◽  
Scientific Impact ◽  
Integral Field Spectroscopy ◽  
Field Spectroscopy ◽  
Nearby Galaxies ◽  
Unique Parameter ◽  
Integral Field Spectrograph ◽  
New Facility ◽  
Larger Sample ◽  
Integral Field

AbstractIn March 2013, the Sydney–AAO Multi-object Integral field spectrograph (SAMI) began a major survey of 3400 galaxies at the AAT, the largest of its kind to date. At the time of writing, over a third of the targets have been observed and the scientific impact has been immediate. The Manga galaxy survey has now started at the SDSS telescope and will target an even larger sample of nearby galaxies. In Australia, the community is now gearing up to deliver a major new facility called Hector that will allow integral field spectroscopy of 100 galaxies observed simultaneously. By the close of the decade, it will be possible to obtain integral field spectroscopy of 100,000 galaxies over 3000 square degrees of sky down to r=17 (median). Many of these objects will have HI imaging from the new ASKAP radio surveys. We discuss the motivation for such a survey and the use of new cosmological simulations that are properly matched to the integral field observations. The Hector survey will open up a new and unique parameter space for galaxy evolution studies.

scholarly journals Global Properties of Nearby Galaxies

1994 ◽  
Vol 161 ◽  
pp. 559-566
Author(s):  
M. Capaccioli ◽  
N. Caon ◽  
M. D'onofrio
Keyword(s):  
Growth Curves ◽  
Large Field ◽  
Medium Size ◽  
Wide Field ◽  
Surface Photometry ◽  
Indirect Methods ◽  
Research Areas ◽  
The Galaxy ◽  
Nearby Galaxies ◽  
Light Profiles

Surface photometry of nearby galaxies is among the research areas that gained most from the recent advances in ‘wide-field imaging’. In fact, the demand for an accurate measure of the night-sky level all around the target galaxy — a key step in galaxy surface photometry; see Fig. 1 in Capaccioli &amp; de Vaucouleurs (1983) — calls for at least some images covering a field wider than the size of the object under study. So far, the small field of most CCD cameras attached to the Cassegrain foci of medium-size telescopes has prevented both the mapping of the galaxian outskirts and, a fortiori, a direct measurement of the sky background μs on the galaxy image itself. Indirect methods to estimate μs — blank-sky exposures, matching of growth curves to photoelectric integrated magnitudes, assumptions on the shape of the galaxian light profiles — have proven ineffective and/or methodologically questionable (Capaccioli 1989). Until large-format CCD chips or mosaics are routinely used, the only way out of these problems is either the use of focal reducers, whose optical complexity may however be incompatible with photometric accuracy, or of large-field photographic plates.

scholarly journals Seyferts in 3D: Probing the Kinematic Signatures of Gas Fueling

2006 ◽  
Vol 2 (S235) ◽  
pp. 94-94
Author(s):  
Gaelle Dumas ◽  
Eric Emsellem ◽  
Carole G. Mundell
Keyword(s):  
Kinematic Analysis ◽  
3D Imaging ◽  
Velocity Fields ◽  
Active Galaxies ◽  
Nuclear Activity ◽  
Stellar Velocity ◽  
Nearby Galaxies ◽  
Field Unit ◽  
And Control ◽  
Integral Field

We have conducted a 3D imaging spectroscopic survey of 15 nearby Seyfert and control non-active galaxies, using the SAURON Integral Field Unit on the WHT. One goal of the project is to search for dynamical triggers of nuclear activity in nearby galaxies. We present here the preliminary results of the kinematic analysis of the gaseous and stellar velocity fields.

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