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    MUSE crowded field 3D spectroscopy in NGC 300 : I. First results from central fields
    (Les Ulis : EDP Sciences, 2018) Roth, Martin M.; Sandin, Christer; Kamann, Sebastian; Husser, Tim-Oliver; Weilbacher, Peter M.; Monreal-Ibero, Ana; Bacon, Roland; den Brok, Mark; Dreizler, Stefan; Kelz, Andreas; Marino, Raffaella Anna; Steinmetz, Matthias
    Aims. As a new approach to the study of resolved stellar populations in nearby galaxies, our goal is to demonstrate with a pilot study in NGC 300 that integral field spectroscopy with high spatial resolution and excellent seeing conditions reaches an unprecedented depth in severely crowded fields. Methods. Observations by MUSE with seven pointings in NGC 300 have resulted in data cubes that are analyzed in four ways: (1) Point spread function-fitting 3D spectroscopy with PampelMUSE, as already successfully pioneered in globular clusters, yields de-blended spectra of individually distinguishable stars, thus providing a complete inventory of blue and red supergiants, and asymptotic giant branch (AGB) stars of type M and C. The technique is also applicable to emission line point sources and provides samples of planetary nebulae (PNe) that are complete down to m5007 = 28. (2) Pseudo-monochromatic images, created at the wavelengths of the most important emission lines and corrected for continuum light with the P3D visualization tool, provide maps of HâII regions, supernova remnants (SNR), and the diffuse interstellar medium (ISM) at a high level of sensitivity, where also faint point sources stand out and allow for the discovery of PNe, Wolf-Rayet (WR) stars, etc. (3) The use of the P3D line-fitting tool yields emission line fluxes, surface brightness, and kinematic information for gaseous objects, corrected for absorption line profiles of the underlying stellar population in the case of Hα. (4) Visual inspection of the data cubes by browsing through the row-stacked spectra image in P3D is demonstrated to be efficient for data mining and the discovery of background galaxies and unusual objects. Results. We present a catalog of luminous stars, rare stars such as WR, and other emission line stars, carbon stars, symbiotic star candidates, PNe, HâII regions, SNR, giant shells, peculiar diffuse and filamentary emission line objects, and background galaxies, along with their spectra. Conclusions. The technique of crowded-field 3D spectroscopy, using the PampelMUSE code, is capable of deblending individual bright stars, the unresolved background of faint stars, gaseous nebulae, and the diffuse component of the ISM, resulting in unprecedented legacy value for observations of nearby galaxies with MUSE.
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    A comparison between X-shooter spectra and PHOENIX models across the HR-diagram
    (Les Ulis : EDP Sciences, 2021) Lançon, A.; Gonneau, A.; Verro, K.; Prugniel, P.; Arentsen, A.; Trager, S.C.; Peletier, R.; Chen, Y.-P.; Coelho, P.; Falcón-Barroso, J.; Hauschildt, P.; Husser, T.-O.; Jain, R.; Lyubenova, M.; Martins, L.; Sánchez Blázquez, P.; Vazdekis, A.
    Aims. The path towards robust near-infrared extensions of stellar population models involves the confrontation between empirical and synthetic stellar spectral libraries across the wavelength ranges of photospheric emission. Indeed, the theory of stellar emission enters all population synthesis models, even when this is only implicit in the association of fundamental stellar parameters with empirical spectral library stars. With its near-ultraviolet to near-infrared coverage, the X-shooter Spectral Library (XSL) allows us to examine to what extent models succeed in reproducing stellar energy distributions (SEDs) and stellar absorption line spectra simultaneously. Methods. As a first example, this study compares the stellar spectra of XSL with those of the Göttingen Spectral Library, which are based on the PHOENIX synthesis code. The comparison was carried out both separately in the three arms of the X-shooter spectrograph known as UVB, VIS and NIR, and jointly across the whole spectrum. We did not discard the continuum in these comparisons; only reddening was allowed to modify the SEDs of the models. Results. When adopting the stellar parameters published with data release DR2 of XSL, we find that the SEDs of the models are consistent with those of the data at temperatures above 5000 K. Below 5000 K, there are significant discrepancies in the SEDs. When leaving the stellar parameters free to adjust, satisfactory representations of the SEDs are obtained down to about 4000 K. However, in particular below 5000 K and in the UVB spectral range, strong local residuals associated with intermediate resolution spectral features are then seen; the necessity of a compromise between reproducing the line spectra and reproducing the SEDs leads to dispersion between the parameters favored by various spectral ranges. We describe the main trends observed and we point out localized offsets between the parameters preferred in this global fit to the SEDs and the parameters in DR2. These depend in a complex way on the position in the Hertzsprung-Russell diagram (HRD). We estimate the effect of the offsets on bolometric corrections as a function of position in the HRD and use this for a brief discussion of their impact on the studies of stellar populations. A review of the literature shows that comparable discrepancies are mentioned in studies using other theoretical and empirical libraries. © A. Lançon et al. 2021.