Institute of Astrophysics and Space Sciences (IA) | University of Porto | 2017 Jan 31
[c][imghover=http://www.iastro.pt/img/news/2017Jan31_2.jpg]http://www.iastro.pt/img/news/2017Jan31_3.jpg[/imghover]Surface brightness map of galaxy NGC3991, computed from the CALIFA IntegralRemoveYoung is a new tool developed by Instituto de Astrofísica e Ciências do Espaço (IA) astronomers Jean Michel Gomes and Polychronis Papaderos. It is designed to suppress, from galaxy images, the luminosity contribution of young stars. This new tool was presented yesterday by Gomes in an advanced course on stellar populations in galaxies, at the Institute of Astronomy of the University of Vienna.
Field Spectroscopy data and the application of RemoveYoung: removal of emission
associated to ongoing or recent star-formation (over the past 30 million years).
Credit: Jean Michel Gomes & Polychronis Papaderos (IA & University of Porto)[/c]
Jean Michel Gomes (IA & University of Porto), co-leader of the SELGIFS work package Reconstruction of the Star Formation History, comments that: “RemoveYoung can become an important tool in extragalactic astronomy. We have now a means to unveil the underlying old stellar populations of galaxies that were hidden by luminous massive stars.”
The optical appearance (morphology) of galaxies is the result of their evolutionary history, but how the assembly history of galaxies is imprinted on their present-day morphology is one of the most tantalizing enigmas in extragalactic research.
The morphology of star-forming galaxies is generally dominated by luminous massive young stars, which can outshine the important structural features of the older (and fainter) stellar background. This strongly limits insights into galaxy formation.
Using this publicly available tool, researchers can numerically remove stellar populations younger than a defined age. This permits computation of the spectral energy, surface brightness, and stellar surface density distribution of older stellar populations. ...
RemoveYoung: A Tool for the Removal of the Young Stellar Component
in Galaxies within an Adjustable Age Cutoff - Jean Michel Gomes, Polychronis Papaderos
- Astronomy & Astrophysics 594:A49 (2016 Oct) DOI: 10.1051/0004-6361/201628316
arXiv.org > astro-ph > arXiv:1607.02884 > 11 Jul 2016