PMAS observations at the Calar Alto 3.5m Teleskop: Measuring the diffuse ionized gas in galaxies

• Applicant: Professor Dr. Martin Matthias Roth
• Subject Area: Astrophysics and Astronomy
• Term: from 2019 to 2021
• Project identifier: Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) - Project number 438568561

The project intends to perform deep PMAS observations of low Halpha surface brightness regions in nearby galaxies to shed light on the nature of the diffuse ionized gas (DIG) component that has often been attributed to Lyman continuum radiation leaking from HII regions. Recent evidence obtained with the MUSE instrument at the VLT is suspiciously pointing to a possible shock excitation origin of the DIG rather than photoionization. We shall utilize the high efficiency of PMAS for low intensity emission to map out regions close to and farther away from luminous HII regions in several nearby galaxies in order to constrain the likely cause for ionization as observable in Ha, Hb, [OI],[OII][OIII],[NII],[SII].

• DFG Programme: Research Grants