Brief program summary and its significance:



                    " STAR FORMATION IN TRIAXIAL BULGES "

Sandra dos Anjos


The classical  scenario of galaxy formation suggest that bulges form before the
disc, resulting in a old stellar  population,  which low  metallicity.  However,
there are  evidences  of a large  fraction  of metal rich stars in the  Galactic
Bulge, requesting  another  alternative  scenario for galaxy or bulge formation.
These simulations suggests that it is possible to form bulges from disc material
by the process of secular  evolution within barred galaxies.  This process could
be recorrent, if a small concentration of mass destroy the bar.The final central
galaxy shape  resulting  from bar  destruction  is similar to observed  triaxial
bulges,  suggesting that some of them are relics of destroyed bars.  The goal of
this  project is identify  regions of stellar  formation  inside the bulge of SO
galaxies with known triaxiallity , and verify if this stellar regions are inside
the triaxial  component.  Moreover we also need  spectroscopy of these bulges in
order to understand the dynamics and stellar population.


Required minimum field of view (arcmin): 5-10

Required psf (FWHM, profile details): 0.2 "

Typical target separation if multiple targets per exposure:

Signal/noise required per resolution element: >20

Typical exposure time for this S/N & lunar phase: 

Anticipated photometric dynamic range required:

What additional photometric calibrations are required?

If IR, is tip/tilt feasible (consider isoplanatic patch)? yes

Anticipated number of separate pointings to complete program:

Can this program execute in a queue? yes

Anticipated post-focus instrumentation requirements (filters, gratings,
etc.): BVRIJK

Required instruments (spectral R, filters, wavelength range): R=5000 , 
3700-10000 A

How soon might you need to revisit this target with another instrument?

Why can't this program execute on the Blanco 4m? For imaging we need the high 
spatial resolution of SOAR to resolve the star formation regions.

References (for non-mainstream applications):ASP Conference Series, 91, 224.