Discovering faint features of galaxies and other astrophysical topics
Discovering faint features of galaxies and other astrophysical topics
Speaker: Simon Nicholas Kemp
Dpto. de Física, Universidad de Guadalajara
Date: November 18th 2025, 11:30 (GMT-6)
Auditorium Z of CUCEI. (Youtube Link)
Abstract
We discuss the detection and measurement of faint light in galaxies and groups and clusters of galaxies. This can be in the form of giant extended haloes (envelopes) as in cD galaxies; filaments, tails, bridges in interactions of galaxies; intracluster or intragroup light, and low surface brightness galaxies. We review some projects in progress, including a study of faint material in the field of Stephan’s Quintet first detected in the 1970s. and a study of a disk galaxy in Virgo of very uncertain morphological type. We discuss the use of population synthesis codes to model the spectra and colours of galaxies, in order to determine the stellar populations (types of stars) in different parts of the galaxies. We review the use of residual images, colour maps, and 2D component decomposition in the study of galaxies.