The Star Formation Histories of Disk and E/S0 Galaxies from Resolved Stars

TL;DR

This paper discusses using resolved stellar populations to derive star formation histories in local galaxies, aiming to understand galaxy formation and evolution, with a focus on technological challenges in photometry.

Contribution

It proposes a method to measure star formation histories in galaxy disks and E/S0 galaxies using resolved star photometry, highlighting the need for improved spatial resolution.

Findings

Resolved stellar populations can reveal detailed star formation histories.

Photometry in crowded fields is currently limited by spatial resolution.

Improved resolution is necessary for accurate measurements.

Abstract

The resolved stellar populations of local galaxies, from which it is possible to derive complete star formation and chemical enrichment histories, provide an important way to study galaxy formation and evolution that is complementary to lookback time studies. We propose to use photometry of resolved stars to measure the star formation histories in a statistical sample of galaxy disks and E/S0 galaxies near their effective radii. These measurements would yield strong evidence to support critical questions regarding the formation of galactic disks and spheroids. The main technological limitation is spatial resolution for photometry in heavily crowded fields, for which we need improvement by a factor of ~10 over what is possible today with filled aperture telescopes.