Hidden in plain sight: Uncovering low-surface-brightness galaxies and their host dark matter halos

Johnny Greco被授予美国国家科学基金会天文学和天体物理学博士后奖学金，在俄亥俄州立大学进行研究和教育项目。Greco将对被称为低表面亮度星系（LSBGs）的微弱弥漫星系进行系统搜索。利用他为探测LSBGs而开发并优化的软件，他将致力于在新的和现有的光学观测调查中增加LSBGs的数量。Greco将为数千个以前未知的lsbg制作一个公共目录，这些lsbg跨越了广泛的性质，他将对其中一些lsbg进行详细的观察。这项研究的结果将使天文学家了解lsdb是如何形成的，以及它们如何适应宇宙学背景。除了这项研究，Greco还将创建教育项目，旨在鼓励高中女生从事科学和计算机编程方面的职业。通过建立无偏样本，本研究将阐明巨型大星系群的形成机制，为星系形成和演化理论提供重要的约束。此外，作为主要由暗物质组成的系统，lsdb为我们目前的宇宙学模型提供了最严格的测试。通过结合旋转曲线、球状星团研究，以及可能的叠加弱透镜分析，拟议的研究将在小尺度和大尺度上限制这些星系中的暗物质分布。Greco将利用他在天文图像处理和编码方面的专业知识来设计软件和学生项目，以激发高中女生对科学的兴趣，并将作为对天文学研究感兴趣的高中生的导师。该奖项反映了美国国家科学基金会的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的知识价值和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。

Johnny Greco is awarded an NSF Astronomy and Astrophysics Postdoctoral Fellowship to conduct a program of research and education at the Ohio State University. Greco will perform a systematic search for faint, diffuse galaxies known as low-surface-brightness galaxies (LSBGs). Using a software that he created and optimized for the detection of LSBGs, he will aim to increase the number of LSBGs in new and existing optical observational surveys. Greco will produce a public catalog of many thousands of previously unknown LSBGs spanning a wide range in properties, and he will perform detailed observations of some of these LSBGs. Results from this study will allow astronomers to understand how LSBGs form and how they fit within the cosmological context. Alongside this research, Greco will create educational projects designed to encourage high school girls to pursue careers in science and computer programming.By building an unbiased sample of LSBGs, the proposed research will elucidate formation mechanisms of giant LSBGs, which will provide important constraints on theories of galaxy formation and evolution. Furthermore, as systems predominantly composed of dark matter, LSBGs provide the most stringent tests of our current cosmological model. By combining rotation curves, globular cluster studies, and possibly a stacked weak-lensing analysis, the proposed research will constrain the dark matter distribution in these galaxies on both small and large scales. Working with an outreach program at his host institution, Greco will use his expertise in astronomical image processing and coding to design software and student projects to stimulate the interest of high school girls in science, and he will serve as a mentor to high school students interested in astronomy research.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.