Raja Guhathakurta

Title: Cannibalism and Forensics in our Galactic Neighborhood

Abstract: Our SPLASH (Spectroscopic and Photometric Landscape of Andromeda's Stellar
Halo) collaboration has been conducting a spectroscopic survey of tens of
thousands of red giant stars in our neighbor the Andromeda galaxy (M31) and
Local Group dwarf galaxies.  The Keck/DEIMOS spectra yield information on
membership, radial velocity, and chemical abundance patterns.  The M31
system is an excellent testbed for studying the interplay among the
dynamical, assembly, star-formation, and chemical-enrichment histories of
the different structural subcomponents of a large disk galaxy --- its outer
halo, inner spheroid, disk, and past and present satellite populations ---
in the context of the Lambda-CDM hierarchical galaxy formation paradigm.  I
will present the latest results from our SPLASH collaboration, talk about
our linkage with the HST multi-cycle treasury program in M31, and briefly
discuss the planned capabilities of the Thirty-Meter Telescope and the
contributions it is expected to make in this area of astrophysics