Next Generation 3D Surveys of Nearby Galaxies: Resolving the Physics that Drive Galaxy Evolution

Dr. Guillermo A. Blanc

Universidad de Chile.

Abstract:

Galaxies form and evolve via physical processes that operate over a large dynamic range of spatial scales, from the tens of kpc scales of galactic disks down to the sub-pc scales in which stars form within GMCs. Optical integral-field spectroscopy, especially when combined with IR, sub-mm, and radio datasets, offers a powerful tool to study the physics of star formation, feedback injection, chemical enrichment, and galactic dynamics within galaxies, but comprehensive surveys of nearby galaxies have been limited by their ~500 pc -1 kpc spatial resolution. At such coarse resolution individual sites of star formation, metal production and feedback injection cannot be resolved. In this talk I will present early results from the “Physics at High Angular Resolution in Nearby Galaxies” (PHANGS) survey, a combination of two ESO and ALMA Large Programs aimed at mapping the ionized and molecular ISM and stellar content of all massive star forming galaxies in the Local Volume (D<17 Mpc) at <100 pc resolution. I will also discuss the Local Volume Mapper (LVM) project, one of the programs to be executed as part of the Sloan Digital Sky Survey V (SDSS-V). The LVM will start operating in 2020, and will produce optical IFU data-cubes of the bulk of the Milky Way disk, the Magellanic Clouds, M31, and M33, and dozens of Local Group dwarfs, with spatial resolutions ranging from 0.1 pc to 20 pc, resolving the scales in which stars form and feedback and metals are injected into the ISM.