The Sydney–AAO Multi-object Integral field spectrograph (SAMI) Galaxy Survey is an ongoing project to obtain integral field spectroscopic observations of ∼3400 galaxies by mid-2016. Including the pilot survey, a total of ∼1000 galaxies have been observed to date, making the SAMI Galaxy Survey the largest of its kind in existence. This unique dataset allows a wide range of investigations into different aspects of galaxy evolution.

The first public data from the SAMI Galaxy Survey, consisting of 107 galaxies drawn from the full sample, has now been released. By giving early access to SAMI data for the entire research community, we aim to stimulate research across a broad range of topics in galaxy evolution. As the sample continues to grow, the survey will open up a new and unique parameter space for galaxy evolution studies.

We present the kinematic morphology-density relation in three galaxy clusters, Abell 85, 168 and 2399, using data from the SAMI Pilot Survey. We classify the early-type galaxies in our sample as fast or slow rotators (FRs/SRs) according to a measured proxy for their projected specific stellar angular momentum. We find each cluster contains both fast and slow rotators with and average fraction of SRs in the sample of fSR=0.15 ± 0.04. We investigate this fraction within each cluster as a function of local projected galaxy density. For Abell 85 we find that fSR increases at high local density but for Abell 168 and 2399 this trend is not seen. We find SRs not just at the centres of our clusters but also on the outskirts and hypothesise that these SRs may have formed in group environments eventually accreted to the larger cluster.

We investigate the origin of stellar metallicity gradients in massive galaxies at large radii (r > 2 Reff) using ten cosmological zoom simulations of halos with 6 × 1012M⊙ < Mhalo < 2 × 1013M⊙. The simulations follow metal cooling and enrichment from SNII, SNIa and AGB winds. We explore the differential impact of an empirical model for galactic winds that reproduces the evolution of the mass-metallicity relation. At larger radii, the galaxies become more dominated by stars accreted from satellite galaxies in major and minor mergers. In the wind model, fewer stars are accreted, but they are significantly more metal poor resulting in steep global metallicity (〈 ▽ Zstars 〉= -0.35 dex/dex) gradients in agreement with observations. Metallicity gradients of models without winds are inconsistent with observations. For the wind model, stellar accretion is steepening existing in-situ metallicity gradients by about 0.2 dex by the present day and is required to match observed gradients. Metallicity gradients are significantly steeper for systems, which have accreted stars in minor mergers. In contrast, galaxies with major mergers have relatively flat gradients, confirming previous results. We highlight the importance of stellar accretion for stellar population properties of massive galaxies at large radii, which provide important constraints for formation models.

This is a review of the extant literature and recent work on the scaling relation(s) that link the gas content of galaxies to the measured star formation rates. A diverse array of observing techniques and underlying physical assumptions characterize the determination of these relations at different scales, that range from the tens of parsec sizes of molecular clouds to the tens of kpc sizes of whole galaxies. Different techniques and measurements, and a variety of strategies, have been used by many authors to compare the scaling relations, both within and across galaxies. Although the picture is far from final, the past decade has seen tremendous progress in this field, and more progress is expected over the next several years.

We highlight recent results on the DYNAMO survey of turbulent, clumpy disks galaxies found at z=0.1. Bright star forming DYNAMO galaxies are found to be very similar in properties to star forming galaxies in the high redshift Universe. Typical star formation rates of turbulent DYNAMO galaxies range 10-80 M⊙ yr−1. Roughly 2/3 of DYNAMO galaxies have Hα kinematics that are consistent with rotation. The typical gas velocity dispersion of DYNAMO galaxies is σHα ~ 20 - 60 km s−1. We show that, when convolved to the same resolution, maps of Hα emission in DYNAMO galaxies have essentially identical morphology as that of z ~ 1 - 3 galaxies. Finally, DYNAMO galaxies have high molecular gas fractions fmol ~ 20 - 35%. We note that DYNAMO galaxies are not dwarfs, typical masses are Mstar ~ 0.8 - 8 × 1010 M⊙. These data are all consistent with a scenario in which despite being at relatively low redshift the DYNAMO galaxies are forming stars similarly to that observed in the high-redshift Universe, that is to say star formation is occurring in very massive (Mclump ~ 109 M⊙), very large (rclump ~ 300 pc) clumps of gas.

We present a spectral decomposition technique that separates the contribution of different kinematic components in galaxies from the observed spectrum. This allows to study the kinematics and properties of the stellar populations of the individual components (e.g., bulge, disk, counter-rotating cores, orthogonal structures). Here, we discuss the results of this technique for galaxies that host counter-rotating stellar disks of comparable size. In all the studied cases, the counter-rotating stellar disk is the less massive, the youngest and has different chemical content (metallicity and α-elements abundance ratio) than the main galaxy disk. Further applications of the spectral decomposition technique are also discussed.

At very low frequencies, the new pan-European radio telescope, LOFAR, is opening the last unexplored window of the electromagnetic spectrum for astrophysical studies. Operating at frequencies from 15 to 240 MHz, its superb sensitivity, high angular resolution, large field of view and flexible spectroscopic capabilities represent a dramatic improvement over previous facilities at these wavelengths. LOFAR will carry out a broad range of fundamental astrophysical studies in a number of key science topics including the formation and evolution of clusters, galaxies and black holes. In this contribution we describe some of the capabilities of LOFAR and present some recent results from the ongoing imaging efforts. We also discuss the impact of LOFAR on our studies of radio-loud AGN. Our recent study of the evolution of radio-loud AGN as a function of host stellar mass shows a clear increase in the fraction of lower mass galaxies which host radio-loud AGN at 1 < z < 2 while the fraction for higher mass galaxies remains the same. This shows that the upturn in the radio luminosity function is driven by increasing AGN activity among low mass galaxies at higher redshifts. New LOFAR observations will allow us to build statistically large samples at high redshifts to constrain this evolution for the different accretion modes of AGN.

Cold, diffuse HI clouds are a key component of the interstellar medium (ISM), and play an important role in the evolution of galaxies. Carbon radio recombination lines (CRRLs) trace this ISM stage, and with the enormous sensitivity of LOFAR we have already begun to map and constrain the physical properties of this gas in our own Galaxy. Using LOFAR's low band antenna, we have observed M 82 and present the first ever extragalactic detection of CRRLs. We stack 22 lines to find a 8.5-sigma detection. The line peak to continuum ratio is ∼0.003, with a FWHM of 31 km s−1. The CRRL feature is consistent with an origin in the cold, neutral medium in the direction of the nucleus of M 82.

We present Magneticum Pathfinder, a new set of hydrodynamical cosmological simulations covering a large range of cosmological scales. Among the important physical processes included in the simulations are the chemical and thermodynamical evolution of the diffuse gas as well as the evolution of stars and black holes and the corresponding feedback channels. In the high resolution boxes aimed at studies of galaxy formation and evolution, populations of both disk and spheroidal galaxies are self-consistently reproduced. These galaxy populations match the observed stellar mass function and show the same trends for disks and spheroids in the mass–size relation as observations from the SDSS. Additionally, we demonstrate that the simulated galaxies successfully reproduce the observed specific angular-momentum–mass relations for the two different morphological types of galaxies. In summary, the Magneticum Pathfinder simulations are a valuable tool for studying the assembly of cosmic and galactic structures in the universe.

In this talk, I report results from galaxy merger simulations, which suggest the existence of a ring of star formation produced by close galaxy encounters. This is a generic feature of all galaxy interactions, provided that the disc spins are sufficiently aligned. This signature can be used to identify close galaxy pairs that have actually suffered a close interaction.

In this work we present high resolution spectroscopic data of the giant star-forming region of N11, obtained with the GIRAFFE instrument at the Very Large Telescope. By using this data set, we find that most of the Hα emission lines profiles in this complex can be fitted by a single Gaussian, however, multiple emission line profiles can be observed in the central region of N11. By adding all the spectra, we derive the integrated Hα profile of this complex, which displays a width (σ) of about 12 km s−1 (corrected by instrumental and thermal width). We find that a single Gaussian fit on the integrated Hα profile leaves remaining wings, which can be fitted by a secondary broad Gaussian component. In addition, we find high velocity features, which spatially correlate with soft diffuse X-ray emission.

Wolf-Rayet HII galaxies are local metal-poor star-forming galaxies, observed when the most massive stars are evolving from O stars to WR stars, making them template systems to study distant starbursts. We have been performing a program to investigate the interplay between massive stars and gas in WR HII galaxies using IFS. Here, we highlight some results from the first 3D spectroscopic study of Mrk 178, the closest metal-poor WR HII galaxy, focusing on the origin of the nebular HeII emission and the aperture effects on the detection of WR features.

We present detailed numerical simulations of the evolution of Tidal Dwarf Galaxies (TDGs) after they kinematically decouple from the rest of the tidal arm to investigate their survivability. Both the short-term (500 Myr) response of TDGs to the stellar feedback of different underlying stellar populations as well as the long-term evolution that is dominated by a time dependent tidal field is examined. All simulated TDGs survive until the end of the simulation time of up to 3 Gyr, despite their lack of a stabilising dark matter component.

We report on ongoing photometric and spectroscopic work on a sample of isolated elliptical galaxies. We investigate their globular cluster systems, and use the kinematics of globular clusters and the integrated galaxy light to constrain their dark halos, which are not found in the cases of NGC 5812 and NGC 7507.

We present the dynamical and stellar population analysis of 12 dwarf elliptical galaxies (dEs) observed using the SAURON IFU (WHT, La Palma). We demonstrate that dEs have lower angular momenta than their presumed late-type progenitors and we show that dE circular velocity curves are steeper than the rotation curves of galaxies with equal and up to an order of magnitude higher luminosity. Transformation due to tidal harassment is able to explain all of the above, unless the dE progenitors were already compact and had lower angular momenta at higher redshifts. We then look at the star formation histories (SFHs) of our galaxies and find that for the majority of them star formation activity was either still strong at a few Gyr of age or they experienced a secondary burst of star formation roughly at that time. This latter possibility would be in agreement with the scenario where tidal harassment drives the remaining gas inwards and induces a secondary star formation episode. Finally, one of our galaxies appears to be composed exclusively of an old population (≳12 Gyr). Combining this with our earlier dynamical results, we conclude that it either was ram-pressure stripped early on in its evolution in a group environment and subsequently tidally heated (which lowered its angular momentum and increased compactness), or that it evolved in situ in the cluster's central parts, compact enough to avoid tidal disruption.

We study the stellar content of three galactic bulges with the high resolution gratings (R=7000) of the WiFeS integral field unit in order to better understand their formation and evolution. In all cases we find that at least 50% of the stellar mass already existed 12 Gyrs ago, more than currently predicted by simulations. A younger component (age between ∼1 to ∼8 Gyrs) is also prominent and its present day distribution seems to be much more affected by morphological structures, especially bars, than the older one. This in-depth analysis supports the notion of increasing complexity in bulges which cannot be achieved by mergers alone, but requires a non-negligible contribution from secular evolution.

The SAGES Legacy Unifying Galaxies and GlobularS (SLUGGS) survey probes the outskirts of early-type galaxies (ETGs). SLUGGS uses the DEIMOS spectrograph on Keck to simultaneously obtain globular cluster and spatially resolved galaxy spectra. The galaxy spectra allow for the reconstruction of kinematic maps out to ∼3 effective radii (Re), while globular clusters (GCs) push the galactocentric limit out to ∼8–10Re. Stellar population parameters (abundances) can also be recovered. This provides a unique dataset for exploring the outer gradients (abundance and/or kinematic transition). We briefly present recent and salient results of the SLUGGS survey so far.

We present continuous, monochromatic star formation rate (SFR) indicators over the mid-infrared wavelength range of 6–70 μm. We use a sample of 58 star forming galaxies (SFGs) in the Spitzer-SDSS-GALEX Spectroscopic Survey (SSGSS) at z<0.2, for which there is a rich suite of multi-wavelength photometry and spectroscopy from the ultraviolet through to the infrared. The data from the Spitzer infrared spectrograph (IRS) of these galaxies, which spans 5–40 μm, is anchored to their photometric counterparts. The spectral region between 40-70 μm is interpolated using dust model fits to the IRS spectrum anchored by Spitzer 70 and 160 μm photometry. Since there are no sharp spectral features in this region, we expect these interpolations to be robust. This spectral range is calibrated as a SFR diagnostic using several reference SFR indicators to mitigate potential bias. Our band-specific continuous SFR indicators are found to be consistent with monochromatic calibrations in the local universe, as derived from Spitzer, WISE, and Herschel photometry. Additionally, in the era of the James Webb Space Telescope this will become a flexible tool, applicable to any SFG up to z∼3.

The late-type spiral NGC 2770 hosted 3 Type Ib supernovae (SNe) in or next to star-forming regions in its outer spiral arms. We study the properties of the SN sites and the galaxy at different spatial resolutions to infer propeties of the SN progenitors and the SF history of the galaxy. Several 3D techniques are used and, for the first time, we present images of metallicity, shocks and stellar population ages from OSIRIS/GTC imaging with tunable narrowband filters.

This work presents the first results from an ESO Large Programme carried out using the OSIRIS instrument on the 10m GTC telescope (La Palma). We have observed a large sample of galaxies in the region of the Abell 901/902 system (z∼0.165) which has been extensively studied as part of the STAGES project. We have obtained spectrally and spatially resolved H-alpha and [NII] emission maps for a very large sample of galaxies covering a broad range of environments. The new data are combined with extensive multi-wavelength observations which include HST, COMBO-17, Spitzer, Galex and XMM imaging to study star formation and AGN activity as a function of environment and galaxy properties such as luminosity, mass and morphology. The ultimate goal is to understand, in detail, the effect of the environment on star formation and AGN activity.