Scientific Collaborations

I have had the privilege of working with Dr. David Martinez-Delgado ( Max-Planck Institute for Astronomy, IAC ), Prof. Andrew C. Fabian ( Institute of Astronomy, University of Cambridge, UK) and international teams of professional astronomers and astrophysicists.

Following is a list of published papers describing their results:

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9, December, 2011

New scientific collaboration submitted to the Astrophysical Journal Letters Dwarfs gobbling dwarfs: a tidal star stream around NGC 4449 We have mapped and analyzed a stellar stream in the halo of the nearby dwarf starburst galaxy NGC 4449, detecting it in deep integrated-light images using the Black Bird II Observatory 0.5-meter telescope, and resolving it into a river of individual red giant branch stars using the 8.2-meter Subaru/Suprime-Cam (NAOJ). The properties of the stream imply a massive dwarf spheroidal progenitor, which will continue to disrupt and deposit an amount of stellar mass that is comparable to the existing stellar halo of the main galaxy. The ratio between luminosity or stellar-mass between the two galaxies represents a stealth major merger. This singular discovery also suggests that satellite accretion can play a significant role in building up the stellar halos of low-mass galaxies, and possibly in triggering their starbursts. Read the full .pdf documentation.

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11, November, 2011

New scientific collaboration published in the Astrophysical Journal Letters The formation of shell galaxies similar to NGC 7600 in the cold dark matter cosmogony A new N-body simulation, demostrates the continuous accretion of stars and dark matter clumps can create a swath of diffuse circumgalactic structures. The disruption of a massive near-radial orbiting dark matter clump creates a complex system of transient concentric shells which bare a striking resemblance to those observed surrounding NGC 7600. With the aid of the simulation we interpret NGC 7600 in the context of the CDM model. Read the full .pdf documentation.

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17, October, 2011
New scientific collaboration published in the Astronomical Journal Discovery of a Stellar Tidal Stream in the Halo of Messier 63 (NGC 5055) The results of a collaboration spanning several years regarding the existance of a stellar stream surrounding Messier 63 (NGC 5055) has been published by the Astronomical Journal. Click here for the full pdf documentation.

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25, May, 2011

New scientific collaboration submitted to Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society (MNRAS) A wide Chandra view of the core of the Perseus cluster An international team of professional astronomers, led by Prof. Andrew C. Fabian ( Institute of Astronomy, University of Cambridge, UK) has submitted a new paper for publication featuring new Chandra images of the X-ray emission from the core of the Perseus cluster of galaxies. This image and a description about its data acquisition and final production were included. Download the PDF document.

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