Speaker
Martin Roth
(Leibniz Institut für Astrophysik Potsdam, Germany)
Description
Over the last 10-15 years there has been a rapid development of the technique of integral field spectroscopy (IFS) in the optical and NIR at 4-8m telescopes, with high impact on the study of the evolution of galaxies, e.g. surveys like SAURON, ALTAS3D, CALIFA. Beyond the mere 2-dimensional mapping of extended objects, we have begun to explore the potential of PSF-fitting integral field spectrophotometry in crowded fields, an area harboring one of the most competitive edges of future extremely large telescopes. I shall demonstrate the potential of this technique with pilot studies even at 4m/8m telescopes and show initial results from observations of globular clusters, from which we were able to determine velocity dispersions in the innermost region, i.e. within radii of 1.5 arcsec, which is the crucial region to constrain Jeans models and, thereby, the mass of a hypothetical intermediate mass black hole (IMBH). As these regions are not reliably accessible by conventional spectroscopy, we show that for the first time we can put tight upper limits on the masses of IMBH for three clusters that were observed in the pilot study. I shall give an outlook to future applications of this novel technique using the upcoming MUSE instrument at the ESO VLT.
Author
Martin Roth
(Leibniz Institut für Astrophysik Potsdam, Germany)
