Lessons Learned from the Definitive Spectral Atlas of Star-forming Galaxies at Cosmic Noon

Dedicated searches for bright, strongly lensed galaxies have revealed large samples of highly magnified sources that will forever constitute a unique and finite number of opportunities for probing distant galaxies at high signal-to-noise. As such, the brightest lensed galaxies are invaluable laboratories in which to compare the detailed properties of distant starburst galaxies with local, well-studied star-forming galaxies. In this talk I will present the Magellan Evolution of Galaxies Spectroscopic and Ultraviolet Reference Atlas (MEGaSaURA), the definitive look at the rest-frame UV spectra of star-forming galaxies at cosmic noon. The MEGaSaURA sample, primarily drawn from the Sloan Giant Arcs Survey, is selected from the brightest known lensed galaxies, with redshifts between 1.6 < z < 3.6. The MEGaSAURA spectra capture dozens of lines that reveal the physical properties of the population of massive stars, the elemental abundances and physical properties of the nebular gas ionized by those stars, and the wind-driven gas outflows that they power. We analyze nebular emission lines, ISM and stellar wind outflows, and the best-fit properties of the young stellar populations with an eye toward informing studies of the first galaxies with the next generation of observational facilities (JWST and 30m-class telescopes). We find remarkable similarity between the properties of vigorously star-forming galaxies at Cosmic Noon and in the local universe. In galaxies dominated by extremely young (