822 research outputs found
A SAURON study of dwarf elliptical galaxies in the Virgo Cluster
Dwarf elliptical galaxies are the most common galaxy type in nearby galaxy
clusters, yet they remain relatively poorly studied objects and many of their
basic properties have yet to be quantified. In this contribution we present the
preliminary results of a study of 4 Virgo and 1 field galaxy obtained with the
SAURON integral field unit on the William Herschel Telescope (La Palma). While
traditional long-slit observations are likely to miss more complicated
kinematic features, with SAURON we are able to study both kinematics and
stellar populations in two dimensions, obtaining a much more detailed view of
the mass distribution and star formation histories.Comment: 2 pages, 1 figure; to appear in the proceedings of the conference "A
Universe of dwarf galaxies" (Lyon, June 14-18, 2010
Characterizing stellar populations in spiral disks
It is now possible to measure detailed spectral indices for stellar
populations in spiral disks. We propose to interpret these data using
evolutionary synthesis models computed from the Star Formation Histories
obtained from chemical evolutionary models. We find that this technique is a
powerful tool to discriminate between old and young stellar populations. We
show an example of the power of Integral Field spectroscopy in unveiling the
spatial distribution of populations in a barred galaxy.Comment: 5 pages, to be published in "Science Perspectives for 3D
Spectroscopy", Eds. M. Kissler-Patig, M.M. Roth and J.R. Walsh
(Springer-Verlag, ESO astrophysics symposia series
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