EAGLE Spectroscopy of Resolved Stellar Populations Beyond the Local Group

TL;DR

The paper introduces the EAGLE spectrograph concept for the E-ELT, aiming to obtain detailed spectroscopic data of resolved stellar populations beyond the Local Group, thereby advancing galaxy evolution studies.

Contribution

It presents the design study for EAGLE, a multi-IFU near-infrared spectrograph that will utilize the E-ELT's capabilities to study stellar populations in the Local Volume.

Findings

EAGLE will provide AO-corrected spectroscopy over a large field.

It will enable detailed chemical and kinematic studies of distant stellar populations.

The instrument aims to revolutionize understanding of galaxy assembly.

Abstract

Valuable insights into galaxy evolution can be gleaned from studies of resolved stellar populations in the local Universe. Deep photometric surveys have provided tracers of the star-formation histories in galaxies from 0.8-16 Mpc, but without robust chemical abundances and stellar kinematics from spectroscopy, their sub-structures and assembly histories remain hidden from us. In this context, we introduce the EAGLE design study for a multi--integral-field-unit, near-infrared spectrograph for the European Extremely Large Telescope (E-ELT). EAGLE will exploit the unprecedented light-gathering power of the E-ELT to deliver AO-corrected spectroscopy across a large (38.5 sq. arcmin) field, truly revolutionising our view of stellar populations in the Local Volume.