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VERSION:2.0
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PRODID:UW-Madison-Physics-Events
BEGIN:VEVENT
SEQUENCE:0
UID:UW-Physics-Event-8728
DTSTART:20240418T203000Z
DTEND:20240418T213000Z
DTSTAMP:20260413T223410Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20240415T133629Z
LOCATION:4421 Sterling Hall
SUMMARY:NIRWALS:  the Near InfraRed Washburn Astronomical Laboratories
  Spectrograph on SALT\, Astronomy Colloquium\, Marsha Wolf\, UW-Madiso
 n
DESCRIPTION:Advances in astronomical instrumentation propel our unders
 tanding of the universe. One example is how integral field spectroscop
 ic surveys of thousands of nearby galaxies over the last decade have r
 evealed unprecedented spatially-resolved views into the details of gal
 axy evolution. The University of Wisconsin Astronomy Department’s Wa
 shburn Astronomical Laboratories specializes in integral field instrum
 entation. We were involved in the SDSS-IV MaNGA survey that observed 1
 0\,000 galaxies\, recently commissioned the Near InfraRed Washburn Ast
 ronomical Laboratories Spectrograph (NIRWALS) on the 11-meter Southern
  African Large Telescope (shared-risk science observations begin in Ma
 y 2024)\, and are currently developing a speckle imaging integral fiel
 d spectrograph for the Lowell Discovery Telescope. This talk will focu
 s on NIRWALS with descriptions of its development history\, capabiliti
 es\, early performance on SALT\, and a preview into new galaxy evoluti
 on studies that it will enable. The near infrared spectral band allows
  access to nebular lines that are tracers of dust-obscured star format
 ion\, AGN activity\, and shocks\, providing a critical probe into gala
 xy quenching processes. Recent ALMA observations have shown that post-
 starburst galaxies\, in which optical spectra indicate that star forma
 tion has been rapidly quenched\, still contain significant reservoirs 
 of gas. So\, what stopped the star formation? We are launching a new p
 roject to observe 50 post-starburst galaxies with NIRWALS\, using them
  as laboratories to investigate whether their star formation is still 
 ongoing\, but hidden by dust\, or whether feedback from AGN or galacti
 c winds have depressed star formation efficiency by dominating the ISM
  energetics in these galaxies.
URL:https://www.physics.wisc.edu/events/?id=8728
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