[78.10] Spatially Resolved Kinematics of $z\sim 2$ Galaxies with Laser Guide Star Adaptive Optics and Integral Field Spectroscopy

AAS 207th Meeting, 8-12 January 2006
Session 78 Seeing the Universe in a New (Sodium) Light: Early Science Results from Laser Guide Star Adaptive Optics
Poster, Tuesday, 9:20am-6:30pm, January 10, 2006, Exhibit Hall

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[78.10] Spatially Resolved Kinematics of z~2 Galaxies with Laser Guide Star Adaptive Optics and Integral Field Spectroscopy

D. K. Erb (CfA), D. R. Law, C. C. Steidel (Caltech)

We report on initial laser guide star adaptive optics (LGS AO) observations of nebular line emission from star-forming galaxies at z~2, using the new OH-Suppressing InfraRed Imaging Spectrograph (OSIRIS) on the Keck II telescope. We also discuss simulations of such observations, which predict the signal-to-noise ratio as a function of redshift for a variety of spatial sampling scales. Traditional, seeing-limited ground-based spectroscopy of z~2 galaxies lacks the spatial resolution needed to distinguish between very different kinematic structures such as mergers and rotating disks, but OSIRIS will be able to make this distinction in at least some cases.

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