SAMI is the Sydney Australian Astronomical Observatory Multi-object Integral Field Spectrograph, a brand new instrument on the 4-meter Anglo-Australian Telescope at Siding Spring Observatory. Integral field spectroscopy (IFS) allows a unique view of how stars and gas zoom around inside distant galaxies because we collect dozens of spectra across the entire face of each galaxy.
The SAMI Galaxy Survey began in March 2013, with the intention of creating a large survey of 3400 galaxies across a large range of environment. We are well on our way, having observed the 700th SAMI Survey galaxy in late April 2014.
To commemorate the occasion, SAMI team member Amanda Bauer (Australian Astronomical Observatory) created this video highlighting how the team plugs SAMI plates with the 13 Hexabundles and additional sky fibres during each night of observing. The video was shot on the night of 27 April 2014, the 40th Anniversary of the first starlight ever collected by the 3.9-metre Anglo-Australian Telescope at Siding Spring Observatory in New South Wales, Australia.
The key science goals of the SAMI Survey are to answer the following questions:
- what is the physical role of environment in galaxy evolution?
- What is the relationship between stellar mass growth and angular momentum development in galaxies?
- How does gas get into and out of galaxies, and how does this drive star formation?
Members of the astronomical community who have an interest in science with the SAMI Galaxy Survey, and/or have particular resources that may be valuable to the team are invited to consider joining either as full or associate team members. Please see this page for further details. To view a list of SAMI Survey Galaxy targets, please visit this page.
