Friday, February 28, 2014
Special Time:
3:15-4:15
Speaker:
Dr. Kat Barger
NSF Postdoctoral Fellow
University of Notre Dame
Title:
Dislodged & Ionized: Gaseous Structures of the Magellanic Clouds
Abstract:
Galaxy evolution is governed by an intricate ballet of gaseous inflows and outflows and galaxy interactions. The nearby Magellanic Clouds provides an advantageous opportunity to study these processes in detail. In this talk, we will explore the gas flows associated with these galaxies through H-alpha emission- and UV absorption-line observations. Galaxy interactions have greatly disturbed the Magellanic Clouds and have tidally displaced massive amounts of gas from these galaxies. These interactions have also triggered intense star formation throughout their disks; we provide compelling evidence that this elevated star formation drives even more material from these galaxies in wide spread, feedback driven winds. Through these observations, we determine the properties of these gas flows and explore their fates. We find that over a billion solar masses of gas neutral and ionized gas surrounds these galaxies. Much of this dislodged gas is transferring between the Magellanic Clouds and the Milky Way, depleting and replenishing their star formation gas reservoir respectively.
