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Abstract Integral field spectroscopy (IFS) is a powerful tool for understanding the formation of galaxies across cosmic history. We present the observing strategy and first results of MSA-3D, a novel JWST program using multi-object spectroscopy in a slit-stepping strategy to produce IFS data cubes. The program observed 43 normal star-forming galaxies at redshifts 0.5 ≲z≲ 1.5, corresponding to the epoch when spiral thin-disk galaxies of the modern Hubble sequence are thought to emerge, obtaining kiloparsec-scale maps of rest-frame optical nebular emission lines with spectral resolutionR≃ 2700. Here we describe the multiplexed slit-stepping method, which is >15 times more efficient than the NIRSpec IFS mode for our program. As an example of the data quality, we present a case study of an individual galaxy atz= 1.104 (stellar massM_*= 10^10.3M_⊙, star formation rate, SFR = 3M_⊙yr⁻¹) with prominent face-on spiral structure. We show that the galaxy exhibits a rotationally supported disk with moderate velocity dispersion ( $\sigma =36_{-4}^{+5}$km s⁻¹), a negative radial metallicity gradient (−0.020 ± 0.002 dex kpc⁻¹), a dust attenuation gradient, and an exponentially decreasing SFR density profile that closely matches the stellar continuum. These properties are characteristic of local spirals, indicating that mature galaxies are in place atz∼ 1. We also describe the customized data reduction and original cube-building software pipelines that we have developed to exploit the powerful slit-stepping technique. Our results demonstrate the ability of JWST slit-stepping to study galaxy populations at intermediate to high redshifts, with data quality similar to current surveys of thez∼ 0.1 Universe. 

Abstract We assess the impact of Caiiλλ3934, 3969 and Naiλλ5891, 5897 absorption arising in the interstellar medium (ISM) on the Sloan Digital Sky Survey-IV MaNGA Stellar Library (MaStar) and produce corrected spectroscopy for 80% of the 24,162-star catalog. We model the absorption strength of these transitions as a function of the stellar distance, Galactic latitude, and dust reddening based on high-spectral resolution studies. With this model, we identify 6342 MaStar stars that have negligible ISM absorption (W^ISM(CaiiK) < 0.07 Å andW^ISM(Nai5891) < 0.05 Å). For 12,110 of the remaining stars, we replace their NaiD profile (and their Caiiprofile for effective temperaturesT_eff> 9000 K) with a coadded spectrum of low-ISM stars with similarT_eff, surface gravity, and metallicity. For 738 additional stars withT_eff> 9000 K, we replace these spectral regions with a matching ATLAS9-based BOSZ model. This results in a mean reduction inW(CaiiK) (W(NaiD)) of 0.4–0.7 Å (0.6–1.1 Å) for hot stars (T_eff> 7610 K), and a mean reduction inW(NaiD) of 0.1–0.2 Å for cooler stars. We show that interstellar absorption in the simple stellar population (SSP) model spectra constructed from the original library artificially enhancesW(CaiiK) by ≳20% at young ages (<400 Myr); dramatically enhances the strength of stellar NaiD in starbursting systems (by ≳50%); and enhances stellar NaiD in older stellar populations (≳10 Gyr) by ≳10%. We provide SSP spectra constructed from the cleaned library and discuss the implications of these effects for stellar population synthesis analyses constraining the stellar age, [Na/Fe] abundance, and initial mass function. 

{"Abstract":["This file contains a version of the SDSS-IV MaNGA Stellar Library (MaStar) which has been corrected for the effects of absorption in the CaII 3934, 3969 and NaI D 5891, 5897 transitions arising in the Milky Way's interstellar medium (ISM).  These corrections are described in full in Rubin et al. (2025).  In brief, we first develop a model of the absorption strengths of these transitions as a function of stellar distance, Galactic latitude, and dust reddening based upon high-spectral resolution studies.  We use this model to identify 6342 MaStar stars with negligible ISM absorption.  For 12110 of the remaining stars, we replace their NaI D profile (and their CaII profile for effective temperatures > 9000 K) with a coadded spectrum of low-ISM stars with similar effective temperature, surface gravity, and metallicity.  For 738 additional stars with effective temperatures > 9000 K, we replace these spectral regions with a matching ATLAS9-based BOSZ model.  This procedure yields corrected spectroscopy for 80% of the 24162-star catalog.\n\nThe spectra in this file are identical to those which have been unified to the 99.5th-percentile spectral resolution curve for MaStar and made available at https://www.sdss4.org/dr17/mastar/mastar-spectra (with the exception of the corrected spectral regions described above).  The datamodel is described below.    \n\nMANGAID - The XX-XXXXXX format MaNGA IDWAVE - Vacuum wavelength grid. The wavelength sampling is logarithmic (Angstroms)FLUX - Observed flux, corrected for Milky Way ISM contamination.  Extinction-corrected to above the Earth's atmosphere but not corrected for Galactic extinction (10^-17 erg/s/cm^2/Ang)IVAR - Inverse variance of the flux (10^34 s^2cm^4Ang^2/erg^2)PREDISP - Instrumental broadening sigma.  Does not include the effect of pixel integration (Angstroms)SRES - Spectral resolution = WAVE/(sqrt(8*ln(2)) * PREDISP)REPLACEMENT_CAII_FLG - Flag indicating treatment of the CaII spectral region.  Described in Table 3REPLACEMENT_NAID_FLG - Flag indicating treatment of the NaID spectral region.  Described in Table 3NSIG_THRESH - Maximum 3D distance in stellar parameter space from stars included in empirical replacement stack, if one was constructed.  Described in Sec. 3.1 and 3.2 (Psi_thresh)ewCaIIK_pred - Interstellar CaII K EW predicted by model described in Sec. 2.2 (Angstroms)ewNaI5891_pred - Interstellar NaI D 5891 EW predicted by model described in Sec. 2.2 (Angstroms)ewNaI5897_pred - Interstellar NaI D 5897 EW predicted by model described in Sec. 2.2 (Angstroms)"],"Other":["Preferred Citation\n\nIf you use these library spectra in your research, we ask that you please cite our article, "Sloan Digital Sky Survey IV MaStar: Quantification and Abatement of Interstellar Absorption in the Largest Empirical Stellar Spectral Library," Rubin et al. (2025), ApJ, 981 31, doi:10.3847/1538-4357/ad8eb6.  Please also cite this Zenodo deposit."]} 

Abstract The Sloan Digital Sky Survey MaNGA program has now obtained integral field spectroscopy for over 10,000 galaxies in the nearby universe. We use the final MaNGA data release DR17 to study the correlation between ionized gas velocity dispersion and galactic star formation rate, finding a tight correlation in whichσ_Hαfrom galactic Hiiregions increases significantly from ∼18–30 km s⁻¹, broadly in keeping with previous studies. In contrast,σ_Hαfrom diffuse ionized gas increases more rapidly from 20–60 km s⁻¹. Using the statistical power of MaNGA, we investigate these correlations in greater detail using multiple emission lines and determine that the observed correlation ofσ_Hαwith local star formation rate surface density is driven primarily by the global relation of increasing velocity dispersion at higher total star formation rate, as are apparent correlations with stellar mass. Assuming Hiiregion models consistent with our finding thatσ_[OIII]<σ_Hα<σ_{[O I]}, we estimate the velocity dispersion of the molecular gas in which the individual Hiiregions are embedded, finding valuesσ_Mol= 5–30 km s⁻¹consistent with ALMA observations in a similar mass range. Finally, we use variations in the relation with inclination and disk azimuthal angle to constrain the velocity dispersion ellipsoid of the ionized gasσ_z/σ_r= 0.84 ± 0.03 andσ_ϕ/σ_r= 0.91 ± 0.03, similar to that of young stars in the Galactic disk. Our results are most consistent with the theoretical models in which turbulence in modern galactic disks is driven primarily by star formation feedback. 

We use the statistical power of the MaNGA integral-field spectroscopic galaxy survey to improve the definition of strong line diagnostic boundaries used to classify gas ionization properties in galaxies. We detect line emission from 3.6 million spaxels distributed across 7400 individual galaxies spanning a wide range of stellar masses, star formation rates, and morphological types, and find that the gas-phase velocity dispersion σHα correlates strongly with traditional optical emission-line ratios such as [S II]/Hα, [N II]/Hα, [O I]/Hα, and [O III]/Hβ. Spaxels whose line ratios are most consistent with ionization by galactic H II regions exhibit a narrow range of dynamically cold line-of-sight velocity distributions (LOSVDs) peaked around 25 km s-1 corresponding to a galactic thin disk, while those consistent with ionization by active galactic nuclei (AGNs) and low-ionization emission-line regions (LI(N)ERs) have significantly broader LOSVDs extending to 200 km s-1. Star-forming, AGN, and LI(N)ER regions are additionally well separated from each other in terms of their stellar velocity dispersion, stellar population age, Hα equivalent width, and typical radius within a given galaxy. We use our observations to revise the traditional emission-line diagnostic classifications so that they reliably identify distinct dynamical samples both in two-dimensional representations of the diagnostic line ratio space and in a multidimensional space that accounts for the complex folding of the star-forming model surface. By comparing the MaNGA observations to the SDSS single-fiber galaxy sample, we note that the latter is systematically biased against young, low-metallicity star-forming regions that lie outside of the 3″ fiber footprint. 

The Sloan Digital Sky Survey IV Mapping Nearby Galaxies at APO (MaNGA) program has been operating from 2014 to 2020, and has now observed a sample of 9269 galaxies in the low redshift universe (z ∼ 0.05) with integral-field spectroscopy. With rest-optical (λλ0.36-1.0 μm) spectral resolution R ∼ 2000 the instrumental spectral line-spread function (LSF) typically has 1σ width of about 70 km s-1, which poses a challenge for the study of the typically 20-30 km s-1 velocity dispersion of the ionized gas in present-day disk galaxies. In this contribution, we present a major revision of the MaNGA data pipeline architecture, focusing particularly on a variety of factors impacting the effective LSF (e.g., under-sampling, spectral rectification, and data cube construction). Through comparison with external assessments of the MaNGA data provided by substantially higher-resolution R ∼ 10,000 instruments, we demonstrate that the revised MPL-10 pipeline measures the instrumental LSF sufficiently accurately (≤0.6% systematic, 2% random around the wavelength of Hα) that it enables reliable measurements of astrophysical velocity dispersions σHα ∼ 20 km s-1 for spaxels with emission lines detected at signal-to-noise ratio > 50. Velocity dispersions derived from [O II], Hβ, [O III], [N II], and [S II] are consistent with those derived from Hα to within about 2% at σHα > 30 km s-1. Although the impact of these changes to the estimated LSF will be minimal at velocity dispersions greater than about 100 km s-1, scientific results from previous data releases that are based on dispersions far below the instrumental resolution should be reevaluated. 

Since the start of science operations in 1993, the twin 10-meter W. M. Keck Observatory (WMKO) telescopes have continued to maximize their scientific impact and to produce transformative discoveries that keep the observing community on the frontiers of astronomical research. Upgraded capabilities and new instrumentation are provided though collaborative partnerships with Caltech, the University of California, and the University of Hawaii instrument development teams, as well as industry and other organizations. This paper summarizes the performance of recently commissioned infrastructure projects, technology upgrades, and new additions to the suite of observatory instrumentation. We also provide a status of projects currently in design or development phases and, since we keep our eye on the future, summarize projects in exploratory phases that originate from our 2022 strategic plan developed in collaboration with our science community to adapt and respond to evolving science needs. 

Abstract This paper documents the seventeenth data release (DR17) from the Sloan Digital Sky Surveys; the fifth and final release from the fourth phase (SDSS-IV). DR17 contains the complete release of the Mapping Nearby Galaxies at Apache Point Observatory (MaNGA) survey, which reached its goal of surveying over 10,000 nearby galaxies. The complete release of the MaNGA Stellar Library accompanies this data, providing observations of almost 30,000 stars through the MaNGA instrument during bright time. DR17 also contains the complete release of the Apache Point Observatory Galactic Evolution Experiment 2 survey that publicly releases infrared spectra of over 650,000 stars. The main sample from the Extended Baryon Oscillation Spectroscopic Survey (eBOSS), as well as the subsurvey Time Domain Spectroscopic Survey data were fully released in DR16. New single-fiber optical spectroscopy released in DR17 is from the SPectroscipic IDentification of ERosita Survey subsurvey and the eBOSS-RM program. Along with the primary data sets, DR17 includes 25 new or updated value-added catalogs. This paper concludes the release of SDSS-IV survey data. SDSS continues into its fifth phase with observations already underway for the Milky Way Mapper, Local Volume Mapper, and Black Hole Mapper surveys.