Project area/S
- The Distant Universe
Project Details
Ongoing star formation and/or the accretion of gas onto the central supermassive blackholes can drives large-scale outflows of gas in galaxies. These outflows appear as collimated structures of diffuse hot gas on both sides of the galactic disk usually within few Kpc from the main disk. Using data from the new Australia-led MAGPI survey on the 8-meter Very Large Telescope in Chile, we detect a unique system with a distinct blob of ionised gas almost 25 Kpc away from the nearest galaxy. The nearest galaxy is a massive galaxy with actively accreting super massive blackhole. This project will use the kinematic alignment between ionised gas blob and the central AGN galaxy to test the origin of the ionised gas blob. If confirmed, this galaxy will be the first detection of ionised gas outflows to such large distances. The student will use the reduced data products created by the MAGPI team from one of the best integral field spectrographs in the world, MUSE, and existing python routines for the emission line fitting. This project will have huge scientific impact because of the novel nature of the target.
Student Attributes
Academic Background
Basic knowledge of astronomy and large-scale structures in the Universe.
Computing Skills
Experience with Linux and Python would be desirable, but any programming experience would be fine.
Training Requirement
Visualization and emission-line analysis technique for spectroscopic datasets. Multi-component Gaussian fitting. Plotting with matplotlib and python.
Project Timeline
- Week 1 Inductions and project introduction
- Week 2 Initial Presentation
- Week 3 Training on visualization software and python
- Week 4 Extract multi-component emission maps
- Week 5 Create Kinematic maps for the main galaxies and the ionised blob.
- Week 6 Estimate mass loading factor and energetics of the outflows
- Week 7 Literature search to identify other galaxies with outflow signatures
- Week 8 Consolidate results and compare conclusion with other surveys in the literature
- Week 9 Final Presentation
- Week 10 Final Report
Outflowing gas as seen in Hα emission in the nearby galaxy M82
