Galaxy Kinematics with SALT

The combination of dynamical and photometric properties of galaxies offers a largely un-tapped source of information on how galaxies assembled and where stars formed. Bi-dimensional kinematic measurements have been the stumbling block. The light-gathering power of SALT coupled with the high-throughput performance of the Prime Focus Imaging Spectrograph (PFIS) yield a superb facility for measuring velocity-ellipsoids of stars and gas in galaxies out to gigaparsec distances. From these data dynamical asymmetries arising from lopsided or elliptical halos may be probed; disk-mass and mass-decompositions may be uniquely determined; mechanisms for disk heating constrained; and a zeropoint for the mass-to-light ratios of stellar populations set. A number of groups within the SALT consortium are interested in making these measurements using a variety of different, but complementary approaches. The scientific potential from their synthesis is very promising. We describe some unusual observational modes in which PFIS may be used to probe the shape of dark-matter halos and the content of galaxy disks.