AAO student fellowship
Looking up – Systematic surveys of nearby early-type galaxies (ETGs) using integral field unit spectrographic data have been key in studying interesting substructures in galaxies.
Analysis of kinematics by SAURON suggested a classification for ETGs: fast and slow rotators. Kinematic transitions have been observed at larger radii, as shown in the two-peak velocity dispersion of NGC4473 (above, labelled σ), from Foster et al (2013).
A galaxy can consist of multiple rotating components. The aim of my project was to generate synthetic datasets by developing analytical simulations of ETGs and recover the best-fitting parameters of multi-component galaxies.
I took the photograph below during a visit to Siding Spring Observatory, NSW.
