COLLABORATIVE RESEARCH: Searching for Ultra-Faint Galaxies Around the Milky Way

该奖项是根据2009年美国复苏和再投资法案（公法111-5）资助的。威尔曼、格哈博士和他们的团队将运用他们久经考验的算法，在银河系周围的广大区域寻找附近的超微弱矮星系。他们将使用来自大型调查的新数据集，包括斯隆数字巡天、红序列星团巡天和南方巡天。除了将于2009年开始的南方巡天之外，所有这些项目的数据都已经可用。该团队将改进他们的算法，以在尺寸、年龄和距离等参数空间的新区域中搜索微弱的矮星系。后续观测包括更深层次的光度测定和光谱学，将测量新的候选矮星的质量、金属丰度和其他基本性质。这项工作将产生一个具有广泛内在特性的超暗矮星样本，在银河系周围的一个统计上显着的体积。一名博士后研究员以及研究生和本科生将在参与这项研究的过程中接受培训。Willman博士和Geha博士将开发和传播基于这项研究的课程资源，用于银河天文学的高级本科课程。博士后研究员将有机会在哈弗福德学院进行密切指导的本科教学。该团队将创建一个wiki来汇编和维护本星系群矮星系的信息。

This award is funded under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (Public Law 111-5).Dr. Willman, Dr Geha and their team will apply their well-tested algorithms to search for nearby ultra-faint dwarf galaxies in vast regions around the Milky Way. They will use new datasets from large surveys, including the Sloan Digital Sky Survey, the Red Sequence Cluster Survey and the Southern Sky Survey. Data are already available from all these except the Southern Sky Survey, which should begin in 2009. The team will improve their algorithms to search for faint dwarf galaxies in new regions of parameter space in size, age and distance. Follow-up observations including both deeper photometry and spectroscopy will measure the mass, metallicity and other fundamental properties of new candidate dwarfs. The work will yield a sample of ultra-faint dwarfs with a broad range of intrinsic properties, in a statistically significant volume around the Milky Way.A postdoctoral researcher and both graduate and undergraduate students will be trained as they participate in this research. Dr. Willman and Dr. Geha will develop and disseminate curricular resources based on this research for classes in Galactic Astronomy at the advanced undergraduate level. The postdoctoral researcher will have the opportunity for a closely mentored undergraduate teaching experience at Haverford College. The team will create a wiki to compile and maintain information on Local Group dwarf galaxies.