Preparing for JWST Observations. Insights from First Light and Assembly of Galaxies GTO Programs II: Studying galaxy properties with MIRI Spectroscopy
Abstract
The MIRI instrument, a result of the collaborative work of a consortium of European and US institutes, is the only Mid-IR science instrument on board of the James Webb Space Telescope. It will achieve unprecedented sensitivity and spatial resolution in the 5-28 microns wavelength range. A significant part of the MIRI GTO time will be dedicated to extragalactic observations, with the aim of covering a broad range of redshifts and giving new insights to galaxy history through time. While some of the programme will use deep MIRI images complemented with NIR observations, in this talk I will focus on the spectroscopic studies of galaxies planned by the MIRI team. At redshifts of about 7-8 we will study the reionization epoch, by observing spectroscopically confirmed targets. The strong emission lines predicted for these galaxies will be measured with the MIRI MRS (an integral field spectrometer).Moving closer in redshift, MIRI will be able to provide spatially resolved spectroscopy of massive dusty star forming galaxies at redshifts of about 3 or higher. This will give us the opportunity to study obscured AGNs, internal extinction and star formation activity, and gas-kpc scales kinematics. Finally, in the local Universe, we will observe the nuclei of well-known nearby galaxies with the MIRI MRS and the NIRSpec IFU. The spectra will yield new insights into the distribution, physical conditions, and kinematics of the various gas components (ionized, atomic, or molecular) in the immediate vicinity of the nucleus.In this contribution I will present this overall spectroscopic GTO program, giving insight into the observing strategies we plan to use for optimally implementing our observations.
- Publication:
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American Astronomical Society Meeting Abstracts #230
- Pub Date:
- June 2017
- Bibcode:
- 2017AAS...23020302G