APOGEE-2

Principal Investigator: Steven Majewski (UVa)

The APO Galaxy Evolution Experiment 2 (APOGEE-2) will explore the formation history of the Milky Way using the "archeological" record provided by hundreds of thousands of its individual stars. The details of the assembly and growth of the Galaxy from its progenitors are preserved in the patterns seen today in the motions of stars and the abundances of chemical elements that they contain. We will map these patterns using observations from the Apache Point site and from the 2.5m du Pont Telescope at Las Campanas Observatory in Chile, obtaining a complete view of our Galaxy's history. Simultaneously, in cooperation with NASA's planet-finding mission, Kepler, APOGEE will measure the abundance of carbon, oxygen, nitrogen and iron in planet-hosting stars, to study the role that these elements play in the formation of terrestrial planets.

Key Science Questions

What is the history of star-formation and chemical enrichment of the Milky Way?
What are the dynamics of the disk, bulge and halo of the Milky Way?
What is the age distribution of stars in the Milky Way?
Are certain properties of stars associated with whether or not they have planets?

APOGEE-2 Technical Details

APOGEE-2 at a glance
Bright-time observations at APO and LCO
Fall 2014 - Fall 2020
300 fibers per 7 deg² plate (APO), 3.5 deg² plate (LCO)
Wavelength: 1.51-1.70 μm, resolution R~22,500
300,000 stars with S/N > 100
Radial velocity precision ~ 100 m/s
Abundance precision of 0.1 dex for 15 elements

People

Principal Investigator: Steve Majewski (UVa)
Survey Scientist: Jon Holtzman (NMSU)
Project Manager: Fred Hearty (Penn State University)
Deputy Project Manager: Jennifer Sobeck (UVa)
Instrument Scientist: John Wilson (UVa)
LCO Operations Manager: Alexandre Roman (Universidad de la Serena)
Pipeline Coordinator: Matt Shetrone (McDonald Observatory)
Northern Survey Operations Scientist: Nathan DeLee (Vanderbilt University)
Southern Survey Operations Scientist: Ricardo Munoz (Universidad de Chile)