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Student Class

2026

Student Affiliation

WISP Intern

First Advisor

Burcin Mutlu-Pakdil

First Advisor Department

Department of Physics and Astronomy

Description

The goal of this project is to discover satellite dwarf galaxies around low mass galaxies. These dwarf galaxies are important to study because a large portion of the galaxies' mass is made up of dark matter. Dwarf galaxies are the smallest, oldest, faintest, and most dark matter dominated systems, and as such, are extremely important for the studies of galaxy formation and dark matter. The satellite dwarves being identified around low mass galaxies are a specific type of dwarf galaxy known as low surface brightness galaxies, or LSBGs. LSBGs are a very diffuse type of dwarf galaxy that emit much less light per unit area compared to other galaxies because of their low density of stars. These galaxies are discovered through a systematic visual search of regions around target hosts (low mass galaxies). This search is conducted using images from the Legacy survey, composed of data from three separate imaging projects. Theories predict that there should be 4-5 LSBGs around each low mass galaxy, so findings from this project could either work to support or refute this theory, contributing either way to the study of LSBGs and dark matter.

Publication Date

2023

Disciplines

Astrophysics and Astronomy | Physical Sciences and Mathematics

Comments

Recipient of WISP Research Engagement Award 2023

Discovering Dwarf Galaxies Around Low Mass Galaxies

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