Research Projects

The formation and evolution of galaxies are regulated by gas flows in and out of them. However, gas-flow processes are poorly understood due to their low density. The circumgalactic medium (CGM) is a dynamic, complex, multiphase region that keeps imprints of these processes. Quasar absorption line spectroscopy is a proven technique to probe low density, diffuse gas in the universe. This program will use quasar absorption line spectroscopy to probe the gaseous halos of 400 homogeneously selected galaxies detected from a dedicated integral-field spectroscopic survey using the Multi-Unit Spectroscopic Explorer MUSE. The survey uses 62 hours of MUSE guaranteed time observations to observe 16 intermediate redshift z_qso ~ 1 quasar fields. The study will also use rest-frame UV absorption lines to probe the CGM of foreground galaxies detected in the MUSE data with impact parameters out to 300 kpc. The aim is to fully characterize the CGM of low redshift, star-forming galaxies by determining radial profiles, density and metallicity distributions, baryon budget, and azimuthal dependence of circumgalactic gas and metals surrounding galaxies.