Name: Prof Warrick Couch

Institution: Swinburne University, Melbourne, Australia

e-mail: wcouch(no-spam)swin.edu.au

Partner Contry: AUS

Science Meeting: Yes

User Meeting: Yes

NGO Staff Meeting: No

Presentation: Yes

Format: Oral

Title: Photometric and spectroscopic dissection of E A galaxies with GMOS

Co-author: Michael Pracy (1) Chris Blake (2) Kenji Bekki (3) Harald Kuntschner (4) Marcel Burgmann (5) James Turner (5)

Co-authors' Institutions: (1) Australian National University (2) Swinburne University (3) University of NSW (4) European Southern Observatory (5) Gemini Observatory

Abstract:

The characteristic E A galaxy spectrum - strong Balmer-line absorption superimposed upon an elliptical galaxy spectrum - is a signpost to galaxies in the process of transformation. Such a spectrum implies the existence of a young stellar population but the absence of ongoing star formation: a recently truncated starburst. E A galaxies hence represent an important stage in the evolution of galaxies, and yet their formation mechanism as a function of environment remains uncertain. To elucidate this mechanism we have obtained high resolution multi-band imaging and spatially resolved IFU spectroscopy with GMOS of a sample of bright, low-redshift E A galaxies selected from the 2dF Galaxy Redshift Survey. This talk will present the results of these observations, showing how spatially the resolved star-formation histories and internal 2D-kinematics provided by GMOS are able to discriminate between competing E A galaxy formation models.