CAREER: SMUDGES: A Survey for Dwarf Galaxies in the Local Universe

Indiana University, Bloomington IN

Investigators

Abstract

CAREER: SMUDGES - A Survey for Dwarf Galaxies in the Local Universe ABSTRACT AST 0347929 van Zee Dr. Liese van Zee, at Indiana University will undertake an optical imaging and spectroscopic survey to identify dwarf galaxies in the local universe. The program centers on the SMUDGES (Systematic Multiwavelength Unbiased catalog of Dwarf Galaxies and Evolution of Structure) survey. The outcome of this research will be a catalog that includes morphology, colors, redshifts, and star formation rates for tens of thousands of galaxies, unbiased by their star forming activity. The catalog will provide a resource for the determination of the "typical" mode of star formation in dwarf galaxies, a census of dwarf elliptical galaxies in clusters and low-density environments, number counts for faint galaxies in the local universe, and a means to investigate the connection between large-scale structure and galaxy evolution. The SMUDGES catalog will be made available to the astronomical community with a web-based interface that is compliant with the National Virtual Observatory. Additionally, the PI will integrate research and education into undergraduate astronomy courses at Indiana University. She will teach and evaluate an inquiry-based introductory astronomy course that serves as the science content course for pre-service secondary school teachers. The PI also plans to adapt telescope data for student research projects in an advanced undergraduate astronomy course. The research projects will be intended to build on the inquiry-based pedagogy developed in the introductory astronomy courses, and form an intermediary step between laboratory exercises and open-ended research projects.