Astro Seminar
Resolving feedback from massive stars in nearby galaxies
Speaker: Anna McLeod (Durham University)
Date: Wednesday 3 May 2023
Time: 14:00
Venue: N3.28/Zoom
Feedback from massive stars plays a central role in shaping the evolution of galaxies. Conversely, different galactic environments play a central role in regulating the impact of massive stars. Yet, despite a solid qualitative understanding of feedback, our quantitative knowledge remains poor. Until recently, only a small number of star-forming regions had adequate observational information on both gas and stars needed for detailed stellar feedback studies. Over the past decade, integral field units (IFUs) have revolutionized our approach to resolved stellar feedback studies in nearby galaxies. In this talk I will present recent results of large IFU nearby galaxy surveys, showcasing how these can be used to simultaneously characterize the feedback-driven interstellar medium and individual feedback-driving stars up to Mpc distances, and I will discuss how this enables the first empirical quantification of the interdependence between stellar feedback and the environments massive stars form in. Lastly, I will also be talking about how IFU data can lead to truly serendipitous discoveries.