Cosmic Chemistry: New Insights from the Sloan Digital Sky Survey IV

Lecture by Professor Christy Tremonti, UW-Madison Astronomy Department

What is the Universe made of? Shortly after the Big Bang, the answer was dark matter, Hydrogen and Helium. The key elements of life — oxygen, nitrogen, carbon, iron —are synthesized later, in the cores of stars, and returned to the surrounding gas when the stars explode as supernovae.

Professor Tremonti will describe how galaxies chemically evolve as they accrete gas, turn gas into stars, and blow-out chemically enriched gas in supernova-driven winds. She will also highlight some new findings obtained from MaNGA, one of three surveys that comprise the Sloan Digital Sky Survey IV.

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