Nik Prusinski (Caltech)

The connection between host galaxies and the underlying gas distribution in their circumgalactic media (CGM) remains a critical frontier in our understanding of galaxy evolution. I will discuss recent findings from the Keck Cosmic Web Imager subsample of the Keck Baryonic Structure Survey (KBSS-KCWI) which comprises R ~ 1800 rest-frame far-UV integral field spectra (IFS) of 193 star forming galaxies at z ~ 2. In absorption, ~2,500 foreground/background galaxy pairs with projected separations 8 < D_tran/kpc < 250 kpc have been used to construct the highest fidelity maps of the average z ~ 2 CGM to date. Down the barrel, I will outline how non-resonant rest-frame UV metal emission seen in the same KBSS-KCWI galaxies opens a new window into tracing optically thick gas. IFS of galaxies down the barrel, combined with background sightlines at projected distances within the virial radius represent a powerful emerging technique to study the CGM.