Mapping the lives and deaths of 10,000 nearby galaxies with MaNGA

The SDSS-IV MaNGA survey is obtaining resolved spectroscopy for thousands of nearby galaxies, providing new insights on key questions regarding galaxy growth, the regulation of star formation, and its eventual suppression through “quenching.”  The largest integral field survey of galaxies ever conducted, MaNGA maps the spatial distribution and chemical composition of stars and gas, as well as their internal dynamics.  I will highlight several recent MaNGA results including new evidence for the late-time build-up of outer stellar envelopes in massive early-type galaxies, constraints on quenching mechanisms across the “green valley,” and the role of mysterious “red geysers” in maintaining quiescence.  Finally, I will describe how future MaNGA-like instruments on large telescopes like Keck hold promise for a new and potentially powerful cosmological probe: kinematic weak lensing.

Speaker: Kevin Bundy, Lick Observatory