Nikolaus Prusinski and Przemek Mróz

From the calendar

Theconnection between host galaxies and the underlying gas distribution in theircircumgalactic media (CGM) remains a critical frontier inour understanding of galaxy evolution. I will discuss recent findings fromthe Keck Cosmic Web Imager subsample of the Keck Baryonic Structure Survey(KBSS-KCWI) which comprises R ~ 1800 rest-frame far-UV integral field spectraof 193 star forming galaxies at z ~ 2. In absorption,foreground/background galaxy pairs with projected separations 8 < D_tran/kpc< 250 kpc have been used to construct the highest fidelity maps of theaverage z ~ 2 CGM to date. Down the barrel, I will outline how non-resonantrest-frame UV metal emission seen in the same KBSS-KCWI galaxies opens anew window into tracing optically thick gas. I will end by describing apotential means of observing the warm-hot intergalactic medium for thefirst time in emission using Mpc-scale jets launched by supermassive blackholes.

Thousands of extrasolar planets have been discovered up to date. Although many of the known exoplanets do not resemble those in our Solar System, they have one thing in common - they all orbit a star. However, theories of planet formation and evolution predict the existence of free-floating planets, gravitationally unattached to any star.

Gravitational microlensing is uniquely suited for finding these free-floating planets. I will present the current constraints on the frequency and properties of rogue planets in the Milky Way based on long-term observations of microlensing events in the Galactic bulge. I will also present several of the most promising candidate free-floating planets discovered to date. Finally, I will briefly discuss the future prospects for determining the frequency and mass function of rogue planets by the planned microlensing experiments.