  In a hierarchical merging scenario, the outer parts of a galaxy are a fossil
record of the galaxy's early history. Observations of the outer disks and halos
of galaxies thus provide a tool to study individual galaxy histories and test
formation theories. Locally, an impressive effort has been made to understand
the halo of the Milky Way, Andromeda, and M33. However, due to the stochastic
nature of halo formation, a better understanding of this process requires a
large sample of galaxies with known halo properties. The GHOSTS project (PI: R.
de Jong) aims to characterize the halos and outer portions of 14 nearby (D=4-14
Mpc) spiral galaxies using the Hubble Space Telescope. Detection of individual
stars in the outer parts of these galaxies enables us to study both the
morphological properties of the galaxies, and determine the stars' metallicity
and age.
