Quantitative Spectroscopy of the Young Stellar Population in Star Forming Galaxies

Abstract

The determination of chemical composition is crucial for investigating the formation and evolution of star forming galaxies and provides a powerful tool to constrain the effects of galactic winds and accretion from the cosmic web. In this regard stellar absorption line studies provide an attractive alternative to the standard techniques using the strong emission lines of HII regions. We discuss a number of newly developed methods: - multi-object spectroscopy of individual blue and red supergiant stars, the brightest stars in the universe at visual and NIR wavelengths, - NIR spectroscopy of super star clusters, - optical spectroscopy of the integrated light of stellar populations in the disks of star forming galaxies, and present results accumulated over the last two years. We then discuss the scientific perspectives and potential of these methods for the use of ELTs.