Cosmic Origins
Searching for answers about our universe and its origins

Diffuse Gas in Cosmic Ecosystems
Science Interest Group
(DGCE SIG)

Events: Seminar

Directly Tracing the Halo-Scale Gas Flows in Emission at Intermediate Redshift



August 24, 2023 — 4pm ET / 1pm PT
Sean Johnson (UMichigan Ann Arbor)

The circum-galactic medium (CGM) is at the nexus of the gas inflows and outflows that regulate galaxy evolution. Consequently, the CGM provides an ideal laboratory for studying galaxy fueling, feedback, and interactions. Historically, studies of the CGM primarily relied on background absorption spectroscopy which enables uniquely sensitive probes of intervening gas but typically lacks the spatial information needed to differentiate the origins of CGM gas flows unambiguously. Recently, the advent of wide-field optical integral field spectrographs enabled the discovery of giant (>50 kpc) scale CGM nebulae around quasars in non-resonant, rest-optical emission lines, providing unique 3D (2 spatial + velocity) maps of the CGM. I will present results from ongoing emission surveys of giant nebulae around ~30 z < 2 quasars that directly trace accretion, debris from interactions, and AGN outflows. Finally, I will discuss possibilities for future discoveries based on emission studies of the CGM enabled by a next-generation UVOIR telescope capable of spatially resolved spectroscopy.

News
9 December 2024
Survey of Astronomy and Astrophysics Research
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ROSES-24 Amendment 80: D.12 Theoretical and Computational Astrophysics Networks Deferred to ROSES-25
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ROSES-24 Amendment 72: D.14 Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope Research and Support Participation Opportunities Final Text and Due Dates
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Save The Date: Cosmic Origins Activities at AAS 245 in National Harbor, MD | January 12th – 15th 2025
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Cosmic Pathfinders Program at AAS245 | Beyond the Horizon: NASA Astrophysics Trivia Challenge | January 13th 2025, 1:00 – 2:30 pm ET
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IR STIG seminar: New Views of Star Formation in Nearby Galaxies with ~100,000 Star Clusters and Associations from PHANGS HST & JWST | Monday, December 9th 2024, at 3:00pm ET
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