RSAA Colloquia / Seminars / Feast-of-Facts: Tuesday, 09 May 2023, 11:00-12:00; ZOOM or Duffield Lecture Theatre


Kevin Bundy

"The Impact of Halo-Driven Assembly on the Enrichment of Spatially-Resolved Stellar Populations"

Large, spatially-resolved galaxy surveys like MaNGA and SAMI have provided an unprecedented look at the internal structure and composition of the nearby galaxy population. Here I will describe our investigation of stellar chemical enrichment across a range of galaxy properties and environments as a way to probe early-type galaxy assembly. We see differences in outer metallicity profiles that may be evidence for late-time accretion in massive galaxy outskirts. And, when we look at the inner profiles of central galaxies, we find enrichment histories that, at fixed halo mass, reveal a surprising secondary dependence on stellar mass. Halos that host galaxies with more stars seem to have experienced accelerated formation and assembly, leading to older and more alpha-enhanced populations today. I’ll conclude with an update on the Starbugs-enabled FOBOS instrument, which will enabled resolved studies like these at redshift one and beyond.