PMAS observing run at Calar Alto 3.5m Telescope: Spectroscopic surface brightness fluctuations: pilot study in M31

• Applicant: Professor Dr. Martin Matthias Roth
• Subject Area: Astrophysics and Astronomy
• Term: from 2013 to 2015
• Project identifier: Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) - Project number 247977503

The level of graininess in images of unresolved stellar populations in nearby galaxies can be quantified in terms of the power spectrum of spatial frequencies in direct images. The smoother the surface brightness, the more distant is, in principle, a given galaxy. This principle has been exploited successfully as an extragalactic distance estimator, known as the SBF method. We propose to revert the principle and explore the grainy appearance of surface brightness distributions in datacubes from galaxies at known distance as an innovative diagnostic tool for stellar populations.

• DFG Programme: Research Grants