Resolved maps of stellar mass and SED of galaxies from optical/NIR
  imaging and SPS models
  We report on the method developed by Zibetti, Charlot and Rix (2009) to
construct resolved stellar mass maps of galaxies from optical and NIR imaging.
Accurate pixel-by-pixel colour information (specifically g-i and i-H) is
converted into stellar mass-to-light ratios with typical accuracy of 30%, based
on median likelihoods derived from a Monte Carlo library of 50,000 stellar
population synthesis models that include dust and updated TP-AGB phase
prescriptions. Hence, surface mass densities are computed. In a pilot study, we
analyze 9 galaxies spanning a broad range of morphologies. Among the main
results, we find that: i) galaxies appear much smoother in stellar mass maps
than at any optical or NIR wavelength; ii) total stellar mass estimates based
on unresolved photometry are biased low with respect to the integral of
resolved stellar mass maps, by up to 40%, due to dust obscured regions being
under-represented in global colours; iii) within a galaxy, on local scales
colours correlate with surface stellar mass density; iv) the slope and
tightness of this correlation reflect/depend on the morphology of the galaxy.
