Program: GN-2009B-Q-82

NGC~1275, the brightest galaxy in the A426 (Perseus) cluster, offers an extraordinary opportunity to explore feedback processes in a nearby (75~Mpc) system. This galaxy hosts a powerful AGN that feeds a double-lobe radio source in combination with a massive molecular ISM that supports extensive star formation. While the existence of a spider web array of ionized gas filaments extending R$=$90~kpc to the north is well known, their quiescent kinematics, molecular content, and associated spatially extended star formation only now is becoming clear. Our ongoing research addresses a variety of interrelated issues ranging from understanding what prevents high ICM cooling rates to the origin and evolution of the giant ionized filaments and the population of the halo with massive young star clusters. A major theme is an exploration of the ways in which mechanical luminosity and momentum from the AGN and SNe~II operate as a feedback mechanism to halt the cooling flow and build new stellar content in NGC~1275. This proposal requests use of the Gemini-N GMOS IFU system to obtain spectra of young star clusters and their associated ionized gas located at a progression of galactocentric radii in NGC~1275. The resulting measurements of cluster kinematics, conditions in surrounding HII filaments, estimated ages, and chemical abundances will add fundamental new constraints on the evolution of this amazing galaxy.