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Sarah M. Sweet

Publications and source records attributed to Sarah M. Sweet.

At least 55 records · Page 3Linked to original sources

The SAMI Galaxy Survey: the third and final data release

We have entered a new era where integral-field spectroscopic surveys of galaxies are sufficiently large to adequately sample large-scale structure over a cosmologically significant volume. This was the primary design goal of the SAMI Galaxy Survey. Here, in Data Release 3 (DR3), we release data for the full sample of 3068 unique galaxies observed. This includes the SAMI cluster sample of 888 unique galaxies for the first time. For each galaxy, there are two primary spectral cubes covering the blue (370-570nm) and red (630-740nm) optical wavelength ranges at spectral resolving power of R=1808 and 4304 respectively. For each primary cube, we also provide three spatially binned spectral cubes and a set of standardized aperture spectra. For each galaxy, we include complete 2D maps from parameterized fitting to the emission-line and absorption-line spectral data. These maps provide information on the gas ionization and kinematics, stellar kinematics and populations, and more. All data are available online through Australian Astronomical Optics (AAO) Data Central.

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Star-gas misalignment in galaxies: I. The properties of galaxies from the Horizon-AGN simulation and comparisons to SAMI

Recent integral field spectroscopy observations have found that about 11% of galaxies show star-gas misalignment. The misalignment possibly results from external effects such as gas accretion, interaction with other objects, and other environmental effects, hence providing clues to these effects. We explore the properties of misaligned galaxies using Horizon-AGN, a large-volume cosmological simulation, and compare the result with the result of the Sydney-AAO Multi-object integral field spectrograph (SAMI) Galaxy Survey. Horizon-AGN can match the overall misalignment fraction and reproduces the distribution of misalignment angles found by observations surprisingly closely. The misalignment fraction is found to be highly correlated with galaxy morphology both in observations and in the simulation: early-type galaxies are substantially more frequently misaligned than late-type galaxies. The gas fraction is another important factor associated with misalignment in the sense that misalignment increases with decreasing gas fraction. However, there is a significant discrepancy between the SAMI and Horizon-AGN data in the misalignment fraction for the galaxies in dense (cluster) environments. We discuss possible origins of misalignment and disagreement.

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Environmental processing of galaxies in HI-rich groups

We present and explore the resolved atomic hydrogen (HI) content of 13 HI-rich and late-type dominated groups denoted `Choirs'. We quantify the HI content of the Choir galaxies with respect to the median of the HI-mass fraction ($f_{\textrm{HI}}$) of their grandparent HIPASS sample. We find that the HI mass fraction of the Choir galaxies is dispersed around the HIPASS median in the range $-1.4 \leq Δf_{\textrm{HI}}\textrm{[dex]}\leq 0.7$, from HI-excess to HI-deficient galaxy regime. The HI-excess/HI-deficient galaxies contain more/less than 2.5 times their expected HI content with respect to the HIPASS median. We show and discuss that the environmental processing in Choirs occurs via tidal stripping and galaxy mergers. Our analysis suggests that tidal stripping contributes to the loss of the HI, while galaxy mergers contribute to the enhancement of the HI. Exploring the mid-infrared properties of Choir galaxies we find possible environmental processing in only nine Choir galaxies, which indicates that environmental processing is more perceptible in the HI content than the mid-infrared properties. Moreover, we find that environmental processing occurs in Choir groups regardless of their global environment, whether they are in isolation or in proximity to the denser structures, such as cosmic web filaments. We explore possible scenarios of the Choirs evolution, taking into account their HI content, velocity dispersion, crossing time and their global environment. We conclude that the most likely evolution for the majority of Choir groups is that they will become more compact as their members undergo multiple HI-rich mergers.

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SH$α$DE: Survey description and mass-kinematics scaling relations for dwarf galaxies

The Study of H$α$ from Dwarf Emissions (SH$α$DE) is a high spectral resolution (R=13500) H$α$ integral field survey of 69 dwarf galaxies with stellar masses $10^6<M_\star<10^9 \,\rm{M_\odot}$. The survey used FLAMES on the ESO Very Large Telescope. SH$α$DE is designed to study the kinematics and stellar populations of dwarf galaxies using consistent methods applied to massive galaxies and at matching level of detail, connecting these mass ranges in an unbiased way. In this paper we set out the science goals of SH$α$DE, describe the sample properties, outline the data reduction and analysis processes. We investigate the $\log{M_{\star}}-\log{S_{0.5}}$ mass-kinematics scaling relation, which have previously shown potential for combining galaxies of all morphologies in a single scaling relation. We extend the scaling relation from massive galaxies to dwarf galaxies, demonstrating this relation is linear down to a stellar mass of $M_{\star}\sim10^{8.6}\,\rm{M_\odot}$. Below this limit, the kinematics of galaxies inside one effective radius appear to be dominated by the internal velocity dispersion limit of the H$α$-emitting gas, giving a bend in the $\log{M_{\star}}-\log{S_{0.5}}$ relation. Replacing stellar mass with total baryonic mass using gas mass estimate reduces the severity but does not remove the linearity limit of the scaling relation. An extrapolation to estimate the galaxies' dark matter halo masses, yields a $\log{M_{h}}-\log{S_{0.5}}$ scaling relation that is free of any bend, has reduced curvature over the whole mass range, and brings galaxies of all masses and morphologies onto the virial relation.

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The SAMI Galaxy Survey: A Range in S0 Properties Indicating Multiple Formation Pathways

It has been proposed that S0 galaxies are either fading spirals or the result of galaxy mergers. The relative contribution of each pathway, and the environments in which they occur remains unknown. Here we investigate stellar and gas kinematics of 219 S0s in the SAMI Survey to look for signs of multiple formation pathways occurring across the full range of environments. We identify a large range of rotational support in their stellar kinematics, which correspond to ranges in their physical structure. We find that pressure-supported S0s with $v/σ$ below 0.5 tend to be more compact and feature misaligned stellar and gas components, suggesting an external origin for their gas. We postulate that these S0s are consistent with being formed through a merger process. Meanwhile, comparisons of ellipticity, stellar mass and Sérsic index distributions with spiral galaxies shows that the rotationally supported S0s with $v/σ$ above 0.5 are more consistent with a faded spiral origin. In addition, a simulated merger pathway involving a compact elliptical and gas-rich satellite results in an S0 that lies within the pressure-supported group. We conclude that two S0 formation pathways are active, with mergers dominating in isolated galaxies and small groups, and the faded spiral pathway being most prominent in large groups ($10^{13} < M_{halo} < 10^{14}$).

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A giant galaxy in the young Universe with a massive ring

In the local (redshift z~0) Universe, collisional ring galaxies make up only ~0.01% of galaxies and are formed by head-on galactic collisions that trigger radially propagating density waves. These striking systems provide key snapshots for dissecting galactic disks and are studied extensively in the local Universe. However, not much is known about distant (z>0.1) collisional rings. Here we present a detailed study of a ring galaxy at a look-back time of 10.8 Gyr (z=2.19). Compared with our Milky Way, this galaxy has a similar stellar mass, but has a stellar half-light radius that is 1.5-2.2 times larger and is forming stars 50 times faster. The large, diffuse stellar light outside the star-forming ring, combined with a radial velocity on the ring and an intruder galaxy nearby, provides evidence for this galaxy hosting a collisional ring. If the ring is secularly evolved, the implied large bar in a giant disk would be inconsistent with the current understanding of the earliest formation of barred spirals. Contrary to previous predictions, this work suggests that massive collisional rings were as rare 11 Gyr ago as they are today. Our discovery offers a unique pathway for studying density waves in young galaxies, as well as constraining the cosmic evolution of spiral disks and galaxy groups.

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The SAMI Galaxy Survey: Gas velocity dispersions in low-$z$ star-forming galaxies and the drivers of turbulence

We infer the intrinsic ionised gas kinematics for 383 star-forming galaxies across a range of integrated star-formation rates (SFR $\in [10^{-3}, 10^2]$ M$_\odot$ yr$^{-1}$) at $z \lesssim 0.1$ using a consistent 3D forward-modelling technique. The total sample is a combination of galaxies from the SAMI Galaxy Survey and DYNAMO survey. For typical low-$z$ galaxies taken from the SAMI Galaxy Survey, we find the vertical velocity dispersion ($σ_{v, z}$) to be positively correlated with measures of star-formation rate, stellar mass, HI gas mass, and rotational velocity. The greatest correlation is with star-formation rate surface density ($Σ_\text{SFR}$). Using the total sample, we find $σ_{v, z}$ increases slowly as a function of integrated star-formation rate in the range SFR $\in$ [$10^{-3}$, 1] M$_\odot$ yr$^{-1}$ from $17\pm3$ km s$^{-1}$ to $24\pm5$ km s$^{-1}$ followed by a steeper increase up to $σ_{v, z}$ $\sim 80$ km s$^{-1}$ for SFR $\gtrsim 1$ M$_\odot$ yr$^{-1}$. This is consistent with recent theoretical models that suggest a $σ_{v, z}$ floor driven by star-formation feedback processes with an upturn in $σ_{v, z}$ at higher SFR driven by gravitational transport of gas through the disc.

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The SAMI Galaxy Survey: Decomposed Stellar Kinematics of Galaxy Bulges and Disks

We investigate the stellar kinematics of the bulge and disk components in 826 galaxies with a wide range of morphology from the Sydney-AAO Multi-object Integral-field spectroscopy (SAMI) Galaxy Survey. The spatially-resolved rotation velocity (V) and velocity dispersion ($σ$) of bulge and disk components have been simultaneously estimated using the penalized pixel fitting (pPXF) method with photometrically defined weights for the two components. We introduce a new subroutine of pPXF for dealing with degeneracy in the solutions. We show that the V and $σ$ distributions in each galaxy can be reconstructed using the kinematics and weights of the bulge and disk components. The combination of two distinct components provides a consistent description of the major kinematic features of galaxies over a wide range of morphological types. We present Tully-Fisher and Faber-Jackson relations showing that the galaxy stellar mass scales with both V and $σ$ for both components of all galaxy types. We find a tight Faber-Jackson relation even for the disk component. We show that the bulge and disk components are kinematically distinct: (1) the two components show scaling relations with similar slopes, but different intercepts; (2) the spin parameter $λ_R$ indicates bulges are pressure-dominated systems and disks are supported by rotation; (3) the bulge and disk components have, respectively, low and high values in intrinsic ellipticity. Our findings suggest that the relative contributions of the two components explain, at least to first order, the complex kinematic behaviour of galaxies.

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Stellar angular momentum distribution linked to galaxy morphology

We study the spatially-resolved stellar specific angular momentum $j_*$ in a high-quality sample of 24 CALIFA galaxies covering a broad range of visual morphology, accounting for stellar velocity and velocity dispersion. The shape of the spaxel-wise probability density function of normalised $s=j_*/j_{*mean}$, PDF($s$), deviates significantly from the near-universal initial distribution expected of baryons in a dark matter halo and can be explained by the expected baryonic effects in galaxy formation that remove and redistribute angular momentum. Further we find that the observed shape of the PDF($s$) correlates significantly with photometric morphology, where late-type galaxies have PDF($s$) that is similar to a normal distribution, whereas early types have a strongly-skewed PDF($s$) resulting from an excess of low-angular momentum material. Galaxies that are known to host pseudobulges (bulge Sersic index $n_b <2.2$) tend to have less skewed bulge PDF($s$), with skewness $(b_{1rb})\lesssim0.8$. The PDF($s$) encodes both kinematic and photometric information and appears to be a robust tracer of morphology. Its use is motivated by the desire to move away from traditional component-based classifications which are subject to observer bias, to classification on a galaxy's fundamental (stellar mass, angular momentum) properties. In future, PDF($s$) may also be useful as a kinematic decomposition tool.

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From Peculiar Morphologies to Hubble-type Spirals: The relation between galaxy dynamics and morphology in star-forming galaxies at z~1.5

We present an analysis of the gas dynamics of star-forming galaxies at z~1.5 using data from the KMOS Galaxy Evolution Survey (KGES). We quantify the morphology of the galaxies using $HST$ CANDELS imaging parametrically and non-parametrically. We combine the H$α$ dynamics from KMOS with the high-resolution imaging to derive the relation between stellar mass (M$_{*}$) and stellar specific angular momentum (j$_{*}$). We show that high-redshift star-forming galaxies at z~1.5 follow a power-law trend in specific stellar angular momentum with stellar mass similar to that of local late-type galaxies of the form j$_*$$\propto$M$_*^{0.53 \pm 0.10}$. The highest specific angular momentum galaxies are mostly disc-like, although generally, both peculiar morphologies and disc-like systems are found across the sequence of specific angular momentum at a fixed stellar mass. We explore the scatter within the j$_{*}$-M$_{*}$ plane and its correlation with both the integrated dynamical properties of a galaxy (e.g. velocity dispersion, Toomre Q$_{\rm g}$, H$α$ star formation rate surface density $Σ_{\rm SFR}$) and its parameterised rest-frame UV/optical morphology (e.g. Sérsic index, bulge to total ratio, Clumpiness, Asymmetry and Concentration). We establish that the position in the j$_{*}$-M$_{*}$ plane is strongly correlated with the star-formation surface density and the Clumpiness of the stellar light distribution. Galaxies with peculiar rest-frame UV/optical morphologies have comparable specific angular momentum to disc-dominated galaxies of the same stellar mass, but are clumpier and have higher star-formation rate surface densities. We propose that the peculiar morphologies in high--redshift systems are driven by higher star formation rate surface densities and higher gas fractions leading to a more clumpy inter-stellar medium.

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The SAMI Galaxy Survey: rules of behaviour for spin-ellipticity radial tracks in galaxies

We study the behaviour of the spin-ellipticity radial tracks for 507 galaxies from the Sydney AAO Multi-object Integral Field (SAMI) Galaxy Survey with stellar kinematics out to $\geq1.5R_\text{e}$. We advocate for a morpho-dynamical classification of galaxies, relying on spatially-resolved photometric and kinematic data. We find the use of spin-ellipticity radial tracks is valuable in identifying substructures within a galaxy, including embedded and counter-rotating discs, that are easily missed in unilateral studies of the photometry alone. Conversely, bars are rarely apparent in the stellar kinematics but are readily identified on images. Consequently, we distinguish the spin-ellipticity radial tracks of seven morpho-dynamical types: elliptical, lenticular, early spiral, late spiral, barred spiral, embedded disc, and 2-sigma galaxies. The importance of probing beyond the inner radii of galaxies is highlighted by the characteristics of galactic features in the spin-ellipticity radial tracks present at larger radii. The density of information presented through spin-ellipticity radial tracks emphasises a clear advantage to representing galaxies as a track, rather than a single point, in spin-ellipticity parameter space.

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Star-Forming, Rotating Spheroidal Galaxies in the GAMA and SAMI Surveys

The Galaxy And Mass Assembly (GAMA) survey has morphologically identified a class of "Little Blue Spheroid" (LBS) galaxies whose relationship to other classes of galaxies we now examine in detail. Considering a sample of 868 LBSs, we find that such galaxies display similar but not identical colours, specific star formation rates, stellar population ages, mass-to-light ratios, and metallicities to Sd-Irr galaxies. We also find that LBSs typically occupy environments of even lower density than those of Sd-Irr galaxies, where ~65% of LBS galaxies live in isolation. Using deep, high-resolution imaging from VST KiDS and the new Bayesian, two-dimensional galaxy profile modeling code PROFIT, we further examine the detailed structure of LBSs and find that their Sérsic indices, sizes, and axial ratios are compatible with those of low-mass elliptical galaxies. We then examine SAMI Galaxy survey integral field emission line kinematics for a subset of 62 LBSs and find that the majority (42) of these galaxies display ordered rotation with the remainder displaying disturbed/non-ordered dynamics. Finally, we consider potential evolutionary scenarios for a population with this unusual combination of properties, concluding that LBSs are likely formed by a mixture of merger and accretion processes still recently active in low-redshift dwarf populations. We also infer that if LBS-like galaxies were subjected to quenching in a rich environment, they would plausibly resemble cluster dwarf ellipticals.

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Group pre-processing versus cluster ram-pressure stripping: the case of ESO156-G029

We report on observations of ESO156-G029, member of a galaxy group which is positioned at the virial radius of cluster Abell 3193. ESO156-G029 is located ~ 1.4 Mpc in projected distance from the brightest cluster galaxy NGC1500. We show that ESO156-G029 has disturbed gas kinematics and a highly asymmetric neutral hydrogen (HI) distribution, which are consequences of group pre-processing, and possibly of ram-pressure. Based on the current data we propose a scenario in which ESO156-G029 had a minor gas-rich merger in the past and now starts to experience ram-pressure. We infer that the galaxy will undergo rapid evolution once it gets closer to the cluster centre (less than 0.5 Mpc) where ram-pressure is strong enough to begin stripping the HI from the galaxy.

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No evidence for intermediate-mass black holes in the globular clusters $ω$ Cen and NGC 6624

We compare the results of a large grid of N-body simulations with the surface brightness and velocity dispersion profiles of the globular clusters $ω$ Cen and NGC 6624. Our models include clusters with varying stellar-mass black hole retention fractions and varying masses of a central intermediate-mass black hole (IMBH). We find that an $\sim 45,000$ M$_\odot$ IMBH, whose presence has been suggested based on the measured velocity dispersion profile of $ω$ Cen, predicts the existence of about 20 fast-moving, $m>0.5$ M$_\odot$ main-sequence stars with a (1D) velocity $v>60$ km/sec in the central 20 arcsec of $ω$ Cen. However no such star is present in the HST/ACS proper motion catalogue of Bellini et al. (2017), strongly ruling out the presence of a massive IMBH in the core of $ω$ Cen. Instead, we find that all available data can be fitted by a model that contains 4.6% of the mass of $ω$ Cen in a centrally concentrated cluster of stellar-mass black holes. We show that this mass fraction in stellar-mass BHs is compatible with the predictions of stellar evolution models of massive stars. We also compare our grid of $N$-body simulations with NGC 6624, a cluster recently claimed to harbor a 20,000 M$_\odot$ black hole based on timing observations of millisecond pulsars. However, we find that models with $M_{IMBH}>1,000$ M$_\odot$ IMBHs are incompatible with the observed velocity dispersion and surface brightness profile of NGC 6624,ruling out the presence of a massive IMBH in this cluster. Models without an IMBH provide again an excellent fit to NGC 6624.

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The SAMI Galaxy Survey: comparing 3D spectroscopic observations with galaxies from cosmological hydrodynamical simulations

Cosmological hydrodynamical simulations are rich tools to understand the build-up of stellar mass and angular momentum in galaxies, but require some level of calibration to observations. We compare predictions at $z\sim0$ from the Eagle, Hydrangea, Horizon-AGN, and Magneticum simulations with integral field spectroscopic (IFS) data from the SAMI Galaxy Survey, ATLAS3D, CALIFA and MASSIVE surveys. The main goal of this work is to simultaneously compare structural, dynamical, and stellar population measurements in order to identify key areas of success and tension. We have taken great care to ensure that our simulated measurement methods match the observational methods as closely as possible. We find that the Eagle and Hydrangea simulations reproduce many galaxy relations but with some offsets at high stellar masses. There are moderate mismatches in $R_e$ (+), $ε$ (-), $σ_e$ (-), and mean stellar age (+), where a plus sign indicates that quantities are too high on average, and minus sign too low. The Horizon-AGN simulations qualitatively reproduce several galaxy relations, but there are a number of properties where we find a quantitative offset to observations. Massive galaxies are better matched to observations than galaxies at low and intermediate masses. Overall, we find mismatches in $R_e$ (+), $ε$ (-), $σ_e$ (-) and $(V/σ)_e$ (-). Magneticum matches observations well: this is the only simulation where we find ellipticities typical for disk galaxies, but there are moderate differences in $σ_e$ (-), $(V/σ)_e$ (-) and mean stellar age (+). Our comparison between simulations and observational data has highlighted several areas for improvement, such as the need for improved modelling resulting in a better vertical disk structure, yet our results demonstrate the vast improvement of cosmological simulations in recent years.

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The SAMI Galaxy Survey: mass-kinematics scaling relations

We use data from the Sydney-AAO Multi-object Integral-field spectroscopy (SAMI) Galaxy Survey to study the dynamical scaling relation between galaxy stellar mass $M_*$ and the general kinematic parameter $S_K = \sqrt{K V_{rot}^2 + σ^2}$ that combines rotation velocity $V_{rot}$ and velocity dispersion $σ$. We show that the $\log M_* - \log S_K$ relation: (1)~is linear above limits set by properties of the samples and observations; (2)~has slightly different slope when derived from stellar or gas kinematic measurements; (3)~applies to both early-type and late-type galaxies and has smaller scatter than either the Tully-Fisher relation ($\log M_* - \log V_{rot}$) for late types or the Faber-Jackson relation ($\log M_* - \logσ$) for early types; and (4)~has scatter that is only weakly sensitive to the value of $K$, with minimum scatter for $K$ in the range 0.4 and 0.7. We compare $S_K$ to the aperture second moment (the `aperture velocity dispersion') measured from the integrated spectrum within a 3-arcsecond radius aperture ($σ_{3^{\prime\prime}}$). We find that while $S_{K}$ and $σ_{3^{\prime\prime}}$ are in general tightly correlated, the $\log M_* - \log S_K$ relation has less scatter than the $\log M_* - \log σ_{3^{\prime\prime}}$ relation.

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Angular momentum of $z\sim 1.5$ galaxies and their local analogues with adaptive optics

We present stellar specific angular momentum $j_*$ measurements of two $z\sim 1.5$ galaxies in the KGES sample and 12 DYNAMO $z\sim 0.1$ analogues of high-redshift galaxies. We combine natural seeing integral field spectroscopic data to trace line emission out to high multiples of effective radius $r_e$, with adaptive optics assisted Keck/OSIRIS observations to trace the rapid rise in rotation curve in the inner regions. Our spaxel-wise integration method gives results that are on average within measurement uncertainty of the traditional rotation curve model method. At $z\sim 0$, combining GMOS and OSIRIS datasets improves the measurement uncertainty in $j_*$ from 13\% (GMOS only) or 16\% (OSIRIS only) to 10\%. At $z\sim 1.5$, systematics allow for at best 20\% uncertainty on $j_*$. DYNAMO analogues of high-$z$ galaxies have low $j_*$ for their stellar mass $M_*$, and low bulge-to-total light ratio $β$ for their $j_*/M_*$. The high-$z$ galaxy COSMOS 127977 has $j_*/M_*$ consistent with normal local disk galaxies, while UDS 78317 is consistent with local analogues. However, our high-resolution OSIRIS data reveal that UDS 78317 may be a merging system. We report a relationship between distance to the $β-j_*/M_*$ plane and the ratio of velocity dispersion to rotational velocity $σ/v_{max}$, where galaxies that deviate more from the plane are more dispersion-dominated due to turbulence. Much of the scatter in $M_*-j_*$ that is not explained by variations in the bulge-to-total ratio or evolution with redshift may be driven by increased turbulence due to star formation, or by treating mergers as rotating disks.

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The SAMI Galaxy Survey: Bayesian Inference for Gas Disk Kinematics using a Hierarchical Gaussian Mixture Model

We present a novel Bayesian method, referred to as Blobby3D, to infer gas kinematics that mitigates the effects of beam smearing for observations using Integral Field Spectroscopy (IFS). The method is robust for regularly rotating galaxies despite substructure in the gas distribution. Modelling the gas substructure within the disk is achieved by using a hierarchical Gaussian mixture model. To account for beam smearing effects, we construct a modelled cube that is then convolved per wavelength slice by the seeing, before calculating the likelihood function. We show that our method can model complex gas substructure including clumps and spiral arms. We also show that kinematic asymmetries can be observed after beam smearing for regularly rotating galaxies with asymmetries only introduced in the spatial distribution of the gas. We present findings for our method applied to a sample of 20 star-forming galaxies from the SAMI Galaxy Survey. We estimate the global H$α$ gas velocity dispersion for our sample to be in the range $\barσ_v \sim $[7, 30] km s$^{-1}$. The relative difference between our approach and estimates using the single Gaussian component fits per spaxel is $Δ\barσ_v / \barσ_v = - 0.29 \pm 0.18$ for the H$α$ flux-weighted mean velocity dispersion.

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