2,191 research outputs found
Resolving stellar populations with integral field spectroscopy
High-performance instruments at large ground-based telescopes have made
integral field spectroscopy (IFS) a powerful tool for the study of extended objects
such as galaxies, nebulae, or even larger survey fields on the sky. Here, we discuss
the capabilities of IFS for the study of resolved stellar populations, using the
newmethod of point-spread-function-fitting crowded field IFS, analogous to the
well-established technique of crowded field photometry with image sensors.We
review early pioneering work with first-generation integral field spectrographs,
the breakthrough achieved with the multiunit spectral explorer (MUSE) instrument
at the European Organisation for Astronomical Research in the Southern
Hemisphere (ESO)Very Large Telescope, the remarkable progress accomplished
with MUSE in the study of globular clusters, and first results on nearby galaxies.
We discuss the synergy of integral field spectrographs at 8–10 mclass telescopes
with future facilities such as the extremely large telescope (ELT)
Resolving stellar populations with integral field spectroscopy
High-performance instruments at large ground-based telescopes have made
integral field spectroscopy (IFS) a powerful tool for the study of extended
objects such as galaxies, nebulae, or even larger survey fields on the sky.
Here we discuss the capabilities of IFS for the study of resolved stellar
populations, using the new method of PSF-fitting crowded field IFS, analogous
to the well-established technique of crowded field photometry with image
sensors. We review early pioneering work with first generation integral field
spectrographs, the breakthrough achieved with the MUSE instrument at the ESO
Very Large Telescope, the remarkable progress accomplished with MUSE in the
study of globular clusters, and first results on nearby galaxies. We discuss
the synergy of integral field spectrographs at 8-10m class telescopes with
future facilities such as the Extremely Large Telescope (ELT).Comment: 6 pages, 3 figures, accepted for AN special issue for
STARS2019/SMFNS201
The central dynamics of M3, M13, and M92: Stringent limits on the masses of intermediate-mass black holes
We used the PMAS integral field spectrograph to obtain large sets of radial
velocities in the central regions of three northern Galactic globular clusters:
M3, M13, and M92. By applying the novel technique of crowded field 3D
spectroscopy, we measured radial velocities for about 80 stars within the
central ~ 10 arcsec of each cluster. These are by far the largest spectroscopic
datasets obtained in the innermost parts of these clusters up to now. To obtain
kinematical data across the whole extent of the clusters, we complement our
data with measurements available in the literature. We combine our velocity
measurements with surface brightness profiles to analyse the internal dynamics
of each cluster using spherical Jeans models, and investigate whether our data
provide evidence for an intermediate-mass black hole in any of the clusters.
The surface brightness profiles reveal that all three clusters are consistent
with a core profile, although shallow cusps cannot be excluded. We find that
spherical Jeans models with a constant mass-to-light ratio provide a good
overall representation of the kinematical data. A massive black hole is
required in none of the three clusters to explain the observed kinematics. Our
1sigma (3sigma) upper limits are 5300 M_sun (12000 M_sun) for M3, 8600 M_sun
(13000 M_sun) for M13, and 980 M_sun (2700 M_sun) for M92. A puzzling
circumstance is the existence of several potential high velocity stars in M3
and M13, as their presence can account for the majority of the discrepancies
that we find in our mass limits compared to M92.Comment: accepted for publication in A&A, 20 pages, 15 figures, tables D1 to
D6 only available at CD
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