Physics
Scientific paper
May 2007
adsabs.harvard.edu/cgi-bin/nph-data_query?bibcode=2007sptz.prop40524s&link_type=abstract
Spitzer Proposal ID #40524
Physics
Scientific paper
Studies of the resolved stellar populations of nearby galaxies provide very strong constraints on their evolutionary histories. Because these are the most secure of all galaxy evolution studies, they represent a calibration of high-redshift investigations where the stellar populations are not resolvable. This work has typically been done at optical wavelengths, and therefore, is biased against very red and highly extincted objects. For example, AGB stars, which are important tracers of the intermediate age evolution of galaxies and are also important contributors to their chemical evolution, are incompletely sampled in typical optical studies, due to extinguishing material expelled by winds late in their evolution. Prior to Spitzer, infrared observations of low surface brightness galaxies were virtually impossible, but our Spitzer/IRAC pilot program imaging Local Group dwarf irregular galaxies has demonstrated that infrared studies of the resolved stellar populations in these galaxies are now available. These observations, in combination with ground based and HST optical imaging, confirm that optical studies do present a highly biased view of the stellar populations in nearby galaxies. These observations also provide the first direct measurement of AGB mass-loss in environments very different from the Milky Way, placing strict constraints on the role metal abundance plays on the physics governing the late stages of stellar evolution. Here we propose to extend our pilot study to a much broader range of parameter space, completing our IRAC investigation of the evolved stellar populations in Local Group star forming dwarf galaxies.
Gehrz Robert
Jackson Dale
Skillman Evan
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