A new look at a 90 year old problem: the 3D shape of galaxies

While complex, the process of galaxy formation throughout cosmic time has led to recognisably distinct types of galaxy structures.
Projection effects and limited sample sizes have so far prevented reliable measurements of the true 3D or intrinsic shape of galaxies.
With the advent of new technologies, the data are now at hand for this fundamental property of galaxies to be measured robustly. I will present recent breakthroughs to the 90 years old puzzle of galaxy intrinsic shapes emerging from the Australian-led Sydney-AAO Multi Integral field (or SAMI) survey.

Dr Caroline Foster

I am an extragalactic astronomer and currently the International Telescopes Support Office Fellow at the Australian Astronomical Observatory in Sydney, Australia. I did my PhD at the Centre for Astrophysics and Supercomputing at Swinburne University, Melbourne, Australia. I am originally from Québec (la belle province), Canada where I did both my Bsc in physics and math and my Msc in astrophysics at Bishops University.