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Galaxies SIG Seminar

Galaxies Science Interest Group

DATE

Dec 05, 2023

TIME

1:00pm

COMMUNITY

Galaxies SIG

TYPE

Seminar

The Case for a High-resolution FUV Spectrograph: From the Molecular Galactic ISM to the Hot IGM

Blakesley Burkhart

In this talk, I will highlight two areas in gaseous astrophysics where exciting mysteries could be addressed with a high-resolution (R > 10, 000) FUV spectrograph. First, I will discuss how the low redshift (z ~0.1) Lyman-α forest observations (requiring space-based FUV with R > 10000) have challenged the most advanced cosmological simulations and defy physical arguments that work well at z > 2, as the amount of neutral hydrogen predicted is far larger in simulations than what is observed. I will show how including active black hole feedback can reconcile the amount of neutral gas by providing extra heating. These findings herald a significant paradigm shift for cosmological simulations and observations that target the low redshift IGM, however, more data is needed to disentangle the models. Second, I will zoom back to the local ISM, where a large FoV R > 10,000 FUV spectrograph could reveal molecular H2 in emission via the H2 fluorescent excitation lines. Such observations could illuminate molecular cloud lifecycles and uncover the origins of mysterious structures in our Galaxy.

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An illustration of Sun-like star HD 181327 and its surrounding debris disk. The star is at top right. It is surrounded by a far larger debris disk that forms an incomplete ellpitical path and is cut off at right. There’s a huge cavity between the star and the disk. The debris disk is shown in shades of light gray. Toward the top and left, there are finer, more discrete points in a range of sizes. The disk appears hazier and smokier at the bottom. The star is bright white at center, with a hazy blue region around it. The background of space is black. The label Artist's Concept appears at lower left.