Speaker: Julianne Dalcanton, Center for Computational Astrophysics/Flatiron Institute
Abstract: Many of the astrophyiscal processes that shape galaxies -- stellar evolution, star formation, feedback into the ISM -- are fundamentally small-scale. At the typical kiloparsec-scale resolution of extragalactic observations, we can only see the collective impacts of these processes, limiting what we can learn about the underlying astrophysics. In contrast, galaxies in the Local Group offer a uniquely high-resolution view of the detailed interplay of gas and stars, on scales of tens of parsecs. In this talk, I will discuss how systematic panchromatic imaging of the M31 and M33 Local Group spirals is being used to constrain galactic astrophysics, with a focus on the interaction between stars and the dense molecular ISM on the scale of giant molecular clouds.