IR STIG PRIMA Seminar, 23 March 2026

Virtual seminar on 23 March 2026 at 12:00pm ET / 9:00am PT. Community IR STIG seminar: "M82 y sus Primas con PRIMA: Spectroscopic Mapping of the M81 Group with FIRESS." Speaker Rebecca Levy (Space Telescope Science Institute). The far-infrared (FIR) holds the key to understanding the energy balance in the interstellar medium (ISM) and circumgalactic medium (CGM), as FIR spectral lines govern gas heating and cooling.

The M81 group is the nearest example of an interacting galaxy system (d=3.6 Mpc) and is expected to merge in the next 1-2 Gyr. This archetypal system has incredibly rich multiwavelength data, and JWST in particular has enabled unprecedented studies of the starburst and outflow in M82.

We propose to map a 100 kpc × 100 kpc (95.5' × 95.5') region of the M81 group using the high spectral resolution mode of FIRESS from 24-235μm (R~2000-20000, delta-V~15-150 km/s).

m82, m81 group, prima, firess, jwst, far-infrared, fir lines, spectroscopic mapping, interstellar medium, circumgalactic medium