Far-UV to Mid-IR Spectral Energy Distributions of Nearby Merging Galaxies
Far-UV to Mid-IR Spectral Energy Distributions of Nearby Merging Galaxies

Author: Madalyn Elizabeth Weston

Publisher:

Published: 2022

Total Pages: 138

ISBN-13:

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Simulations of gas-rich, major galaxy mergers predict elevated amounts of star formation (SF) and nuclear black hole growth (active galactic nuclei, or AGN). This model is supported by observations that find enhanced SF in mergers, but support for the AGN-merger connection remains uncertain. Interstellar dust, a bi-product of SF, can block much of the light from an AGN and re-radiate that energy at infrared (IR) wavelengths. Therefore, quantifying the amount of buried AGN activity in the IR is key to understanding the role of major mergers in galaxy evolution. Spectral energy distributions (SEDs) allow Astrophysicists to disentangle AGN activity from SF. I hypothesize that applying SED analysis to a sample of merging galaxies will show an enhancement in AGN activity over control galaxies. I perform SED analysis from the far-ultraviolet (FUV) to the mid-IR on a sample of 49 merging galaxies and 49 statistically-matched control galaxies in the nearby universe. I find that the SED AGN luminosity correlates with the [OIII] luminosity, a common indicator of AGN power. I find that galaxies previously identified as Seyfert or WISE AGNs generally have a higher SED AGN luminosity. I do not find an increased occurrence of SED-detected AGNs in merging over control galaxies, rejecting our study hypothesis. To meet the interdisciplinary requirements of this degree, I also design a new graduate-level course in Multicultural Education for STEM (science, technology, engineering and mathematics) fields. “Diversity and Inclusion” have become buzz words in STEM, as research continues to show achievement and participation gaps for women, people of color, disabled persons, those of low socio-economic status, and members of the LGBTQIA+ community. Research about the STEM gaps has existed for decades, particularly with respect to teaching practices that contribute to under-representation. Yet little change has occurred in STEM classrooms. Graduate students (i.e., future STEM professors and industry leaders) stand in a unique position to impact diversity and inclusion efforts. Through targeted education centered on diversity and inclusion in teaching methods, we can produce a new generation of STEM educators who are aware and mindful of their unique role in fighting inequality in STEM.

Outskirts of Galaxies
Outskirts of Galaxies

Author: Johan H. Knapen

Publisher: Springer

Published: 2017-07-09

Total Pages: 367

ISBN-13: 3319565702

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This book consists of invited reviews written by world-renowned experts on the subject of the outskirts of galaxies, an upcoming field which has been understudied so far. These regions are faint and hard to observe, yet hide a tremendous amount of information on the origin and early evolution of galaxies. They thus allow astronomers to address some of the most topical problems, such as gaseous and satellite accretion, radial migration, and merging. The book is published in conjunction with the celebration of the end of the four-year DAGAL project, an EU-funded initial training network, and with a major international conference on the topic held in March 2016 in Toledo. It thus reflects not only the views of the experts, but also the scientific discussions and progress achieved during the project and the meeting. The reviews in the book describe the most modern observations of the outer regions of our own Galaxy, and of galaxies in the local and high-redshift Universe. They tackle disks, haloes, streams, and accretion as observed through deep imaging and spectroscopy, and guide the reader through the various formation and evolution scenarios for galaxies. The reviews focus on the major open questions in the field, and explore how they can be tackled in the future. This book provides a unique entry point into the field for graduate students and non-specialists, and serves as a reference work for researchers in this exciting new field.

Pathways to Discovery in Astronomy and Astrophysics for the 2020s
Pathways to Discovery in Astronomy and Astrophysics for the 2020s

Author: National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine

Publisher:

Published: 2022-08-04

Total Pages: 615

ISBN-13: 9780309467346

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The steering committee was specifically asked to (1) provide an overview of the current state of astronomy and astrophysics science, and technology research in support of that science, with connections to other scientific areas where appropriate; (2) identify the most compelling science challenges and frontiers in astronomy and astrophysics, which shall motivate the committee’s strategy for the future; (3) develop a comprehensive research strategy to advance the frontiers of astronomy and astrophysics for the period 2022-2032 that will include identifying, recommending, and ranking the highest-priority research activities; (4) utilize and recommend decision rules, where appropriate, that can accommodate significant but reasonable deviations in the projected budget or changes in urgency precipitated by new discoveries or unanticipated competitive activities; (5) assess the state of the profession, including workforce and demographic issues in the field, identify areas of concern and importance to the community, and where possible, provide specific, actionable, and practical recommendations to the agencies and community to address these areas. This report proposes a broad, integrated plan for space- and ground-based astronomy and astrophysics for the decade 2023-2032. It also lays the foundations for further advances in the following decade.

Blindsight
Blindsight

Author: Peter Watts

Publisher: Macmillan

Published: 2006-10-03

Total Pages: 388

ISBN-13: 1429955198

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Hugo and Shirley Jackson award-winning Peter Watts stands on the cutting edge of hard SF with his acclaimed novel, Blindsight Two months since the stars fell... Two months of silence, while a world held its breath. Now some half-derelict space probe, sparking fitfully past Neptune's orbit, hears a whisper from the edge of the solar system: a faint signal sweeping the cosmos like a lighthouse beam. Whatever's out there isn't talking to us. It's talking to some distant star, perhaps. Or perhaps to something closer, something en route. So who do you send to force introductions with unknown and unknowable alien intellect that doesn't wish to be met? You send a linguist with multiple personalities, her brain surgically partitioned into separate, sentient processing cores. You send a biologist so radically interfaced with machinery that he sees x-rays and tastes ultrasound. You send a pacifist warrior in the faint hope she won't be needed. You send a monster to command them all, an extinct hominid predator once called vampire, recalled from the grave with the voodoo of recombinant genetics and the blood of sociopaths. And you send a synthesist—an informational topologist with half his mind gone—as an interface between here and there. Pray they can be trusted with the fate of a world. They may be more alien than the thing they've been sent to find. At the Publisher's request, this title is being sold without Digital Rights Management Software (DRM) applied.