Special Astronomy & Astrophysics Seminar: Expanding gas shells around young star clusters. How we find them and derive their physical parameters

Abstract:

Two dimensional spectral imaging at high resolution over a wide field can be achieved using Fabry-Perot spectroscopy. This method is particularly effective for mapping galaxies in velocity and velocity dispersion of their interstellar medium using emission lines. The product, using H-alpha, is akin to mapping galaxies at 21 cm in HI. We can use the high spectral resolution to resolve multiple emission line components and this has enabled us to develop a technique for detecting and analyzing the bubbles and superbubbles around OB star clusters in external galaxies. In the talk I will give a brief description of the instrument we use ("GHaFaS") and of its data products. I will then describe applications, focusing on some recent observations of superbubbles in the Antennae galaxies, and of a particularly interesting set of observations of expanding shells in M33.

Seminar Organizer: Prof. Sara Beck