Qld Astrofest Honoured Guest 2012

 
"We have discovered a new type of galaxy group with very active star formation. Usually, groups of galaxies have low star formation rates because there is not much fuel available to form stars. The observed high rates of star formation in our groups could be explained by the dwarf galaxies forming out of matter torn from the giant galaxies by tidal interactions. I am testing how important this tidal process is in forming dwarf galaxies, using a relatively new type of instrument (integral field spectrograph) on a relatively old telescope (ANU 2.3m at Siding Spring Observatory). In my talk I will explain how integral field spectroscopy gives us 3D maps of these galaxies and allows us to test whether or not they are forming by tidal interactions."

Sarah Sweet is a PhD candidate at the University of Queensland. Her research interests include star formation in dwarf galaxies, and ultra-compact dwarf galaxies.

Previous Guests:

2011 - Charley Lineweaver

2010 - David Wiltshire

2010 - Trevor Barry

2009 - Michael Drinkwater

2009 - Tamara Davis