Application of spatial regularisation to high resolution galaxy integral field spectroscopy

Resolved spectral information in the form of data cubes has become common in galaxy evolution research as a result of the growing number of integral field spectrographs. Coupled with this technology is the need for software that is capable of handling 3D datasets to produce science-ready derived quantities that take into account common observational effects. ROHSA-SNAPD, a new code developed at the RSAA (Kanowski et al. 2025), was designed to utilise both spatial and spectral information through regularisation while also accounting for the inherent smearing of light as we observe through the atmosphere and at different spatial resolutions. However, while designed for low-resolution at cosmic noon, the software remains untested on data of different resolution and quality. Local star forming galaxies from the MUSE Atlas of Discs survey and the TYPHOON survey present an excellent opportunity to explore further applications of this code to different datasets and identify what extensions to the code may be needed.

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In this project the student would (1) become familiar with three dimensional spectral datacubes, (2) learn how to apply the ROHSA-SNAPD software to different datasets, (3) determine the advantages and limitations of ROHSA-SNAPD on large datacubes in comparison to codes without spatial regularisation. 

The student taking on this project is expected to familiarise themselves with the basic principles of regularisation, emission-line spectroscopy, and acquire the skills to successfully analyse data. This project will be in collaboration with ROHSA-SNAPD code developer, Isaac Kanowski.