Home / Colloquium / Extragalactic Archaeology: Galaxy Formation and Nucleosynthesis
March 22, 20212:45 pm – 3:45 pm (CDT)
Extragalactic Archaeology: Galaxy Formation and Nucleosynthesis
Speaker:
Evan Kirby (California Institute of Technology)
Host:
Casey Papovich
Event Details
Galactic archaeology is the use of the velocities and abundances of stars to learn about the history of galaxy formation and nucleosynthesis. I will tell two stories of extra-galactic archaeology with two different groups of elements: alpha elements and the iron peak. First, I will present detailed abundances of individual stars in the dwarf satellites, stellar streams, and smooth halo of M31. The evolution of [alpha/Fe] in these stars supports the hierarchical assembly paradigm of galaxy formation. Second, I will present abundances of manganese and nickel in dwarf satellite galaxies of the Milky Way. These abundances are best explained by a strong contribution of sub-Chandrasekhar-mass Type Ia supernovae.