Collaborative Research: CDS&E: New Image Resampling Techniques for the Mapping Nearby Galaxies at Apache Point Observatory in the NASA Sloan Atlas

Siena University, Loudonville NY

Investigators

Abstract

Observations of a large population of galaxies in the local universe allows us to learn about how galaxies grow through star formation. Both star formation and the interaction of gas with the central black hole can have positive and negative feedback on the rate at which stars form in galaxies. This project will develop a new analysis tool for combining data taken from many different observatories on the ground and in space. The data will be used to produce a uniform catalog of nearby galaxies with images in wavelengths from ultraviolet to infrared, as well as spectra taken from some individual galaxies. The catalog will be of value to researchers who study galaxy growth. The Mapping Nearby Galaxies at APO (MaNGA) survey is providing spectroscopy across the face of 10,000 nearby galaxies selected from the NASA Sloan Atlas. This data enables a broad range of science on dynamics, star formation histories, active galactic nuclei, and more. The most productive use of this new data set is to use tin conjunction with the multiwavelength imaging data sets available for these galaxies from the ultraviolet through to the infrared. The project will produce images consistently sampled in position across all of these wavelengths and within the spectra, and will publicly release the data set. They will develop a better analysis technique that minimizes the negative effects of resampling. The technique may have broad application inside and outside astronomy. An algorithm exploiting this technique will also be made publicly available. This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.