15 April 2024
Understanding the Production and Escape of Ionizing Photons – Far-UV Science with HWO
Time/Date: April 17th 2024, 1:00pm ET/10:00am PT
Speaker: Anne Jaskot
Abstract: JWST is transforming our knowledge of galaxy properties at z > 6, but one property it cannot observe is the emission of ionizing, Lyman Continuum (LyC) photons from these galaxies. At high redshifts, these LyC photons are absorbed by the IGM en route to Earth. Yet studying LyC radiation is critical to understand how galaxies reionized the IGM and how massive stars affect their host galaxy’s ISM. We need to know how LyC radiation is produced within galaxies and with what energies, what processes enable its escape into the IGM, and how much LyC radiation escapes from different types of galaxies. Recent LyC observations of low-redshift galaxies with HST have begun to answer these questions but are limited to moderately bright (MUV -18 to -21) galaxies at z ~ 0.3 with limited spatial information. I will review what we’ve learned from these HST observations as well as the open questions that remain. I will discuss how future FUV science with HWO at higher spatial resolution, higher sensitivity, or shorter wavelengths could provide important insights into low-metallicity super star clusters, their effects on the ISM, and the reionization of the universe.
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