Age-dating a star-burst with GEMINI/CIRPASS observations of the core of M83

We present preliminary results from a set of near-IR integral field spectroscopic observations of the central, star-burst, regions of the barred spiral galaxy M83, obtained with CIRPASS on Gemini-S. We present maps in the Paβ and [FeII] 1.257 μm emission lines which appear surprisingly different. We outline the procedure in which we will use Paβ emission line strengths and measures of CO absorption to determine the relative and absolute ages of individual star-forming knots in the central kpc region of M83. (© 2004 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim)