The Fornax3D Survey -- A Magnitude-Limited Study of Galaxies in the Fornax Cluster with MUSE

TL;DR

The Fornax3D survey provides deep integral-field spectroscopic data of 33 galaxies in the Fornax cluster, enabling detailed studies of galaxy evolution in dense environments and linking early-type and spiral galaxy formation.

Contribution

This study presents the first comprehensive integral-field spectroscopic survey of galaxies in the Fornax cluster, revealing insights into galaxy formation and evolution in dense environments.

Findings

Reconstructed formation histories of early-type galaxies.

Explored the connection between early-type and spiral galaxies.

Published 19 papers since 2018 based on the data.

Abstract

The Fornax galaxy cluster is an ideal nearby laboratory in which to study the impact of dense environments on the evolution of galaxies. The Fornax3D survey offers extended and deep integral-field spectroscopic observations for the brightest 33 galaxies within of virial radius of the Fornax cluster, obtained with the MUSE integral-field spectrograph, mounted on Unit Telescope 4 (Yepun) of ESO's Very Large Telescope in Chile. The Fornax3D data allowed us to reconstruct the formation of early-type galaxies in the cluster and to explore the link with spiral galaxies. Results have been published in 19 refereed papers since 2018. In this paper we review the broad goals of this campaign, its main results and the potential for future studies combining the MUSE data with the abundant multi-wavelength data coverage for Fornax.