Poster Title: Stellar Populations in Bulges and Disks of Spiral Galaxies
Abstract: We present first results of a long-term study of the large-scale stellar population and evolutionary properties of nearby galaxies. We have acquired deep Gemini/GMOS spectra for 7 nearby spiral galaxies and measured line indices in the bulge and inner disk. These represent the deepest spectra of their kind to date. The line indices are compared with stellar population models to characterize the luminosity-weighted ages and metal abundances in star-forming galaxies and place constraints on basic formation scenarios of spiral bulges. Careful attention is paid to disk and nebular contamination into the bulge. These results are part of a long-term project to supplement the SIRTF Nearby Galaxy Survey (SINGS) Legacy project data base with radial absorption line measurements to provide a fundamental data base for the study of star formation histories and stellar populations of present-epoch star-forming galaxies.
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