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Large scale spectroscopic surveys are major team endeavours which consume a lot of resources but have the capacity to provide a transformative impact on astronomy. They also provide the launch-pad for more detailed studies and have been a cornerstone of Australia science for sometime. Here I will briefly describe some of the key surveys taking place, the distinction between cosmology and galaxy evolution studies and an update of where we are in terms of mapping the Universe (and whether we’re likely to run out of Universe anytime soon). I’ll then focus on science from the GAMA project, very briefly summarising some of the key results from the first 100 papers, before focussing on where we are with the mass and energy census in the Universe. In the next few years we hope to revisit the baryon census, build a model of the evolution of energy over all time, and explore the volition of structure (galaxy profiles, groups and filaments). Finally, if time allows, I’ll introduce the WAVES survey, open to to all, where we will take things to the next level by conducting a 2million galaxy spectroscopic campaign essentially extending GAMA out to the mid-point in the history of the Universe with a focus on tracing the dark matter and baryon budgets, distributions and properties. |
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