Modelling and interpreting optical spectra of galaxies at R=10 000
Résumé
One way to extract more information from the integrated light of galaxies is to improve the spectral resolution at which observations and analysis are carried out. The population synthesis code currently providing the highest spectral resolution is PÉGASE-HR, which was made available by D. Le Borgne et al. in 2004. Based on an empirical stellar library, it provides synthetic spectra between 4000 and 6800 Å at lambda/deltalambda = 10 000 for any star formation history, with or without chemical evolution. Such a resolution is particularly useful for the study of low mass galaxies, massive star clusters, or other galaxy regions with low internal velocity dispersions.