NOAO > Observing Info > Approved Programs > 2009A-0140
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NOAO > Observing Info > Approved Programs > 2009A-0140 |
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PI: John Lucey, University of Durham, john.lucey@durham.ac.uk
Address: Department of Physics, South Road, Durham DH1 3LE, United Kingdom
CoI: Tim Rawle, University of Durham
CoI: Russell Smith, University of Durham
CoI: Ray Sharples, University of Durham
CoI: Mark Norris, University of North Carolina
Title: The origin of S0 disks in the dense cluster environment
Abstract: Various mechanisms have been proposed to account for the large population of S0 galaxies observed in the cores of local rich clusters. While the transformation of a spiral into an S0 via star formation quenching is the favoured model, the mechanism for removal or exhaustion of gas is not known. Stellar population studies of S0s are a powerful diagnostic tool to investigate such mechanisms. While most S0s in rich clusters are found to contain predominantly old stars, some younger ( 2 Gyr) S0s have been identified. However such studies have been largely limited to measuring the cores of S0s which are dominated by the bulge light. Here we propose deep, long-slit GMOS spectroscopy of 12 edge-on S0s in the Coma cluster in order to determine the age, metallicity and [alpha/Fe] of both their bulges and their disks, in order to investigate the S0 formation process.
National Optical Astronomy Observatory, 950 North Cherry Avenue, P.O. Box 26732, Tucson, Arizona 85726, Phone: (520) 318-8000, Fax: (520) 318-8360
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NOAO > Observing Info > Approved Programs > 2009A-0140 |
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