The Governors of the University of Alberta
PHANGS AstroSat-Color: Star Formation and Dust Attenuation Properties of Star-Forming Galaxies — This project will map out the ultraviolet colors of several nearby galaxies that are actively forming stars. AstroSat is observing the starlight of young, massive stars. As these short-lived stars die, the color of the galaxy changes, with the light becoming dominated by long-wavelength ultraviolet light. But there is a complication: dust in galaxies also makes the light appear redder. The new high-resolution data will be used to untangle the effects of aging from dust. This research is important because it is a local calibration needed to understand how to interpret the colors from different telescopes of the most distant galaxies.