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IPAC at Winter AAS 2024

The 243rd meeting of the American Astronomical Society (AAS)  meeting will be held January 7-11, 2024 in New Orleans, Louisiana. IPAC and NExScI staff and scientists are presenting science talks, and posters, giving demos of the science data archives and answering questions on Slack. This page features IPAC-related activities and resources specific to AAS 243. 

Attending In Person?

Stop by the Caltech IPAC booth in the meeting's Exhibit Hall and say hi! Our booth is in space 615.

Follow @caltechipac and @NExScI_IPAC on X (Twitter) and #caltech_ipac_nexsci_exh on the AAS243 Slack for timely updates! 

The IPAC science data archives represented at AAS 243 are:

The IPAC projects represented at AAS 243 are:

 

Special Events and Activities

  • IRSA will help staff a "Data Help Desk" at the AAS HQ booth to answer data-related questions in the context of publications and data sharing. Keep an eye on IRSA and Caltech IPAC social media and the #data-help-desk AAS 243 Slack channel for specific times!
  • Participants in the 2023 and 2024 NASA/IPAC Teacher Archive Research Program (NITARP) will present paper versions of their research posters at the Caltech IPAC booth (space 615 in Exhibit Hall) all day on Tuesday, Jan. 9. Here's a summary of the teams' work.

 

217. The Euclid Mission and Opportunities for Archival Research (Special Session)

Tuesday, Jan. 9, 10 to 11:30 a.m. CST

Room 216

Session Chair: Harry Teplitz, Caltech/IPAC-ENSCI

Euclid is an ESA mission with NASA involvement to study the geometry and nature of the dark Universe. Euclid launched on 1 July 2023 on SpaceX Falcon 9. During its six-year mission, Euclid will survey almost 15,000 sq. deg. of extragalactic sky and obtain optical images (530-920nm band) and near-infrared images (Y,J,H) and slitless grism spectra (1206nm-1892nm, R~480). All Euclid data will be made public to the world community on a schedule set by ESA. A quick data release is planned for late 2024, and the first year of data will be released in DR1 in late 2025. Data will be available from the ESA’s Euclid Archive System and from the NASA/IPAC Infrared Science Archive (IRSA). NASA will support archival research with Euclid data via the ADAP program. The Euclid NASA Science Center at IPAC (ENSCI) is available now to answer questions from researchers planning to use Euclid data. In this session, we will give an overview of Euclid and its two instruments, and report on mission status and early release observations. We will discuss the opportunities and science potential for archival research with public Euclid data.

 

 

 

244. The NASA Hubble Fellowship Program: Creating 21st Century Leaders in Astronomy (Special Session)

Tuesday, Jan. 9, 2 to 3:30 p.m. CST

Room 220

Session Chair: Dawn M. Gelino, Caltech/IPAC-NExScI and NASA Hubble Fellowship Program Co-Lead

The NASA Hubble Fellowship Program and its precursors, including the Hubble, Einstein and Sagan Fellowships, have for 35 years been a key NASA contribution towards the advancement of the careers of many talented early career scientists and through them have contributed to many important endeavors in the exploration of the Universe.

In 2020 NASA commissioned a program review with a special emphasis on diversity, equity and inclusion. The results were published in January 2022. As part of this extensive study thirty-two recommendations were sent to NASA HQ aimed at improving and updating different aspects of the program.
Immediately following this study NASA established a taskforce to address these recommendations, and as many as 30% of them were implemented starting with the 2022 Announcement of Opportunity (some even pre-dated the NHFP review).

In this special session, we intend to update the community on the status of the NHFP program, the initiatives taken by the taskforce and already adopted, as well as present the results of the Community Feedback form launched in Summer 2023, that focused on some of the most challenging recommendations.

The session will be organized by NASA Headquarters in collaboration with the program Leads and Goddard Space Flight Center (which manages the NHFP), and will include invited presentations by members of the taskforce as well as of the original review committee.

 

435. Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope Town Hall

Thursday, Jan. 11, 12:45 to 1:45 p.m. CST

Room 207

The Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope is a NASA flagship mission planned for launch no later than May 2027. The Roman Space Telescope will perform breakthrough science in dark energy cosmology, exoplanet microlensing, and NIR sky surveys with its Wide Field Instrument. Roman will also feature the Coronagraph Instrument (CGI), a technology demonstration that will directly image and take spectra of exoplanetary systems using several novel technologies together for the first time in space. This session will cover the status of the project and upcoming opportunities for community involvement in planning and executing the science and technology demonstration aspects of Roman.

Workshops

Best Practices for Data Publication in the Astronomical Literature

Saturday, Jan. 6, 2 to 4 p.m. CST, Room 209

This workshop will lead participants through the recommendations made in the "Best Practices for Data Publication in the Astronomical Literature" (Chen et al. 2022) article. The goal is to help early career researchers to learn how to publish their data accurately and make them more open and FAIR (Findable, Accessible, Interoperable and Reusable). Examples will be provided to explain the justification behind these best practices recommendations. We will also showcase how, by following these guidelines, it will not only improve the scientific records, but also help streamline ingestion of the published data into archives, which will in turn facilitate new modes of open science discovery. Many co-authors of this document (Mark Allen from CDS, Gus Muench AAS Data Editor, Luisa Rebull from IRSA, Raffaele D'Abrusco from Chandra, etc.) will be present to answer questions.

 

Sunday, Jan. 7, 9 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.  CST, Room 207

NASA’s funding solicitations (e.g. ROSES) now require Open Science and Data management plans as part of the submission process. These plans describe how the scientific information produced will be managed and made openly available. This workshop will walk you through what these plans are and how to write them. We will cover the details of describing your data products, how to make it citable, and how to make it more findable. Details of data file formats to use, how or where data can be archived, and how software written can be archived, preserved, and made publicly available. Rather than “another checkbox to be ticked”, these plans will help you get your data into the hands of other researchers leading to more citations and impact for your work.

Data editors for the AAS Journals will contribute training on how to provide data products in the published literature. This training will include specific guidance on what can and cannot be hosted in the Journals. For larger datasets we will describe our recommendations for using domain-specific and generalist repositories in astronomy, including the benefits and pitfalls of each repository type. We will describe workflows for finding and citing data from such repositories. This training will also cover AAS Journal policies for software archiving and citation, as well as how to plan for sharing computational notebooks. We will also describe the Journals’ approach to open access and supported models of publication provided to authors.

This workshop is being presented by NASA’s Transform to Open Science (TOPS) and the AAS Journals.

 

Student and Early Career Professional Development Workshop: How to Conference Successfully

Sunday, Jan. 7, noon to 5 p.m. CST, Room 214

This workshop aims to support students and postdocs interested in learning more about how to get the most out of professional development experiences like the AAS meeting. Following the success of the Neurodiversity in Astronomy special session, held in Seattle in January 2023, this workshop aims to help all astronomers who feel they need support or advice on how to approach large astronomical meetings, navigate the social parameters, and get the most out of attending, whether they are neurodiverse or not.

The American Astronomical Society Winter Meeting is the largest astronomy conference annually, and thousands of astronomers come to collaborate, network, and share their research. Like all conferences, the AAS meeting can be overwhelming, especially for first-timers. So in this workshop, attendees will learn how to navigate and get the most out of these meetings, whether it is their first meeting or they are seasoned veterans.

Discussions will include how to appropriately network at meetings, how to sell your research and ideas, job seeking, how to prioritize, and self-care in a sometimes overwhelming environment.

 

Effective Astronomy Visualizations for Research, Outreach, and Learning

Sunday, Jan. 7, 1 to 5 p.m. CST, Room 223

Clear and powerful visualizations are a critical component of science communications whether the audience is researchers, students, or the general public. Today's astronomy visualizations comprise an ever-expanding collection of disciplines that include traditional fields of image processing, data presentation, and illustration, as well as emerging technologies like data sonification, 3D printing, and virtual/augmented reality experiences.

The goal of this workshop is to connect the many communities represented within the AAS (including students, educators, communicators, developers, and researchers) interested in the many areas of astronomy visualization. Presenters will share lessons learned through discussions of best practices for a variety of audiences. They will survey a wide range of visualization techniques and address their advantages and accessibility for different styles of learning. Case studies of effective visualizations will showcase how to communicate both knowledge and wonder via inspiring graphics.

Workshop participants will experience an overview of the current state of astronomy visualization including planning, creation, and delivery phases of the process. They will gain an enhanced appreciation for the selection of visualization-appropriate topics and datasets, the efforts and expertise required to achieve quality products, and the storytelling methods to reach learners of diverse backgrounds. In addition, participants will be encouraged to bring examples of their own projects, or pose particular visualization challenges to the group.

This workshop is facilitated by NASA's Universe of Learning (www.universe-of-learning.org) with the goal of contributing to an expanding community of practice for those engaged in the many aspects of astronomy visualization, or "AstroViz."

NASA's Universe of Learning creates and disseminates resources and experiences that enable youth, families, and lifelong learners to explore fundamental questions in science, experience how science is done, and discover the universe for themselves. NASA's Universe of Learning materials are based upon work supported by NASA under cooperative agreement award number NNX16AC65A to the Space Telescope Science Institute, working in partnership with Caltech/IPAC, Center for Astrophysics | Harvard & Smithsonian, and NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory. The award is part of NASA's Science Activation program, which connects NASA science experts, real content, and experiences with community leaders to do science in ways that activate minds and promote deeper understanding of our world and beyond.

 

Accessing NASA's Astrophysics Archives using Python

Sunday, Jan. 7, 2 to 4 p.m. CST

Room 223

NASA's astrophysics archives preserve many terabytes of multi-wavelength images, catalogs, and spectra. While many astronomers are familiar with web-based tools that are convenient for searching and visualizing these data, programmatic interfaces through Python are increasingly in demand. This hands-on workshop will introduce participants to the programmatic data access tools available and the tutorial notebooks we offer. Note that we use NASA data in our examples, but the tools and methods are generic. We will describe science scenarios that combine multi-wavelength data from the HEASARC, IRSA, NED, and MAST that participants will then be encouraged to work through themselves. Workshop organizers will be available to help participants with them or adapt them for custom projects.

Talks, Sessions, and Splinters

 

Monday, January 8

Building the Roman Supernova Pipeline (Splinter)

9:30 to 11:30 am CST, Room R07

The Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope will be conducting a major space base extra galactic time domain survey. The influx of data will require new data analysis techniques. Come to this first community input session hosted by the Roman SN Project Infrastructure Team (PIT). Learn about what this PIT is planning, how you can get involved and let your feature requests be heard. We will discuss simulations, calibration, photometry, spectroscopy and supernova cosmology pipelines.

121.03. Reducing the Dimensions of the AGN Glossary

10:20 to 10:30 a.m. CST, Room 217

Shoubaneh Hemmati, Caltech/IPAC; Jessica Krick, Caltech; Vandana Desai, Caltech/IPAC-IRSA; Andreas Faisst, Caltech; David Shupe, Caltech/IPAC; Brigitta Sipocz, Caltech/IPAC; Troy Raen, Caltech/IPAC

The Active Galactic Nuclei (AGN) glossary is vast and intricate. Depending on the selection method, observation wavelength window/lines, and brightness, they are classified into categories with distinct labels. While the unified model of AGNs provides some clarity to the picture, the overlaps in different selections and the variability within each class are not fully understood. Further complicating the picture are the changing look AGNs, which transition from one category to another over time. In this study, we compile a large sample of AGNs with various labels from the literature, including normal SDSS quasars, WISE variable sources, Galex variable sources, changing look AGNs, etc. We query all time domain observations from various archives using the NASA Science Platform, ranging from the optical to Gamma rays. The high-dimensional manifold, constructed using either individual facilities or combinations thereof (e.g., ZTF optical bands vs. Pan-STARRS+WISE optical and MIR bands) is explored using dimensionality reduction techniques. This exploration demonstrates the overlaps and distinctions among different AGN labels. For example, we illustrate that utilizing the information content in WISE light curves alone allows us to separate the two flavors of changing look AGNs (turn on, turn off) from the rest of the AGN population. The unsupervised training of the time domain data and the subsequent coloring of the reduced dimension projections with labels from the literature help visualize different samples together, mitigate biases originating from selection effects, and provide selection schemes for future followup observations.


Tuesday, January 9

Infrared Science and Technology Integration Group (Splinter)

Tuesday, Jan. 9, 9 to 10:30 a.m. CST, Room 242

Co-Chair: Roberta Paladini, Caltech/IPAC

PDF of Session Agenda and Speakers

In response to the Astro2020 decadal survey, NASA solicited proposals for $1B class probe missions to explore either Far-Infrared or X-Ray astrophysics. Should an IR probe mission be selected, the community may have access to "Guest Observer" time to make observations of their choosing. To help facilitate the sharing of infrared science cases developed around the probe mission call, and motivations for current and future infrared science, we invited submissions for feature talks for this splinter session at AAS 243.

This session will begin with talks from the teams of each submitted FIR probe mission describing their mission architecture and proposed capabilities. Following this, we invite members from the community-at-large to speak to Guest Observer (GO) science ideas of their own. We also hope to highlight science pushing the capabilities of current Infrared facilities, and how work that motivates GO program science with probes.

230.02. Clouds and Clarity: Revisiting Atmospheric Feature Trends in Neptune-size Exoplanets

10:10 to 10:20 a.m. CST, Room R04

Jonathan Brande, University of Kansas; Ian Crossfield, University of Kansas; Laura Kreidberg, Max Planck Institute for Astronomy; Caroline Morley, University of Texas; Travis Barman, University of Arizona; Björn Benneke, University of Montreal; Jessie Christiansen, Caltech/IPAC-NASA Exoplanet Science Institute; Diana Dragomir, University of New Mexico; Jonathan Fortney, University of California, Santa Cruz; Thomas Greene, NASA Ames Research Center; Kevin Hardegree-Ullman, University of Arizona; Andrew Howard, California Institute of Technology; Heather Knutson, California Institute of Technology; Joshua Lothringer, Utah Valley University; Thomas Mikal-Evans, Max Planck Institute for Astronomy.

Over the last decade, precise exoplanet transmission spectroscopy has revealed the atmospheres of dozens of planets, driven largely by observatories like the Hubble Space Telescope. One major discovery has been the ubiquity of clouds and hazes in exoplanet atmospheres, often blocking access to exoplanet chemical inventories. Attempts have been made to relate the presence of high-altitude aerosols to planetary parameters. Tentative trends have been identified, showing that the clarity of planetary atmospheres may depend on equilibrium temperature. Previous work has, out of necessity, grouped dissimilar planets (massive Hot Jupiters and smaller, cooler planets) together in order to increase the statistical power of any trends, but it remains unclear from observed transmission spectra whether these planets exhibit the same atmospheric physics. We present a re-analysis of a smaller, more physically similar sample of 13 Neptune-sized exoplanet atmospheric spectra across a wide range of temperatures (200-1000 K). We identify a parabolic trend in the water feature amplitude with a minimum near 600 K. By comparing to cloudy sub-Neptune models, we find our sample is consistent with low cloud sedimentation efficiency and high metallicity. Comparing to hazy models, our planets prefer small haze particle sizes and small precursor conversion fractions. We also find an intrinsic astrophysical scatter of ~0.6 scale height in these feature strengths. Observationally, we should expect transmission spectra of Neptune-sized planets to be attenuated significantly by clouds or hazes, depending on the planetary equilibrium temperature. These results imply stochasticity in the formation and evolutionary histories of sub-Neptune planets, and that we may be able to uncover those histories with detailed JWST observations of these planets' atmospheres.

231.03 Summiting K2: New results from the Scaling K2 project (Part of Extrasolar Planets: Populations Session)

10:30 to 10:40 am CST, Room R05

The Scaling K2 project has produced a K2 planet candidate catalog with quantified completeness and reliability for use in demographics studies, and begun those studies in earnest. Here I will present the team's analysis of exoplanet occurrence rates as a function of host star age, spectral type, and location within the Galaxy, extending beyond studies possible with the original Kepler dataset. We find a number of key results, including that the rate of hot sub-Neptunes is very high in the Praesepe and Hyades clusters, a finding that is consistent with the current predictions of core-powered mass loss and inconsistent with those of photoevaporation.

217.05. US Opportunities for Archival Research with Euclid

11:14 to 11:30 a.m. CST, Room 216

Vandana Desai, Caltech/IPAC; Harry Teplitz, Caltech/IPAC; George Helou, Caltech/IPAC

The Euclid Mission will create an archive of imaging and spectroscopic data products that will be mined by the scientific community for decades to come. I will describe the content and timing of the public data releases, as well as the tools that the NASA/IPAC Infrared Science Archive (IRSA) will make available for accessing and analyzing these data. I will also discuss how the Euclid NASA Science Center at IPAC (ENSCI) is supporting US-based investigations using Euclid data. Finally, I will provide information about funding opportunities to support Euclid analyses through the NASA Astrophysics Data Analysis Program (ADAP).

Maximizing the Science of Roman with Simulations (Splinter)

2 to 3:30 p.m.CST, Rooms 240 & 241

With a Wide Field Imager (WFI) delivering Hubble-like resolution over roughly 100 times the instantaneous area, and an observatory designed to enable large-area surveys nearly three orders of magnitude faster than HST, the Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope will produce expansive surveys that transform our understanding of dark energy, dark matter, galaxies, and exoplanets. In order to help plan for and take full advantage of the Roman surveys, as well as test data reduction and analysis algorithms currently being developed, it is essential to create detailed simulated Roman photometric, morphological and spectroscopic datasets. The start of the community process of defining Roman's Core Community Surveys, preparations for launch in late 2026 and the expected release of the first public data in early 2027 make this a timely topic for discussion. This session will bring together observers and theorists to discuss and plan for simulations to maximize the scientific return from Roman's Core Community and General Astrophysics surveys.

The Future of Galactic Plane Science with the Roman Space Telescope

2 to 3:30 p.m. CST, Room 216

Set to launch in late 2026, the Roman Space Telescope is designed to open entirely new doors in the fields of cosmology and exoplanet demographics as part of its planned Core Community Surveys. However, the combination of Roman's astrometric precision, survey sensitivity, and mapping speed also make it ideally suited for surveying broad swaths of the Milky Way's disk. Uniformly surveying the Galactic plane and bulge with Roman would significantly expand its scientific impact in the fields of stellar populations, star formation, the interstellar medium, and Galactic structure and dynamics, among many others. Roman holds the potential to image tens of billions of stars in heavily dust-enshrouded regions across the Milky Way, enabling dramatic Galactic science with even a single epoch. With multiple epochs, Roman can obtain proper motions, complementing Gaia in heavily-obscured and/or confused regions and acting as a precursor for a potential near-infrared Gaia mission. In this special session, we will bring together the community interested in General Observer investigations of the Milky Way plane with Roman to highlight the broad range of Galactic science cases and outline the survey design factors (coverage, filters, epochs) necessary to achieve them. Attendees will gain an understanding of i) current efforts to design and implement a Galactic plane survey with Roman, ii) the synergies between Roman and complementary photometric, astrometric, and spectroscopic surveys of the plane on the horizon, and iii) ways to be involved in community-driven efforts for organizing a Roman Galactic plane survey. In addition to a series of short talks by subject matter experts, the session will include a thirty minute panel discussion with attendees.

242.01. Design Considerations for a Roman Galactic Plane Survey (part of the session: The Future of Galactic Plane Science with the Roman Space Telescope)

2:15 to 2:30 p.m. CST, Room 216

Roberta Paladini, Caltech/IPAC; Robert Benjamin, University of Madison-Whitewater; Gail Zasowski, University of Utah; Catherine Zucker, CfA; Sean Carey, Caltech/IPAC; David Nataf, JHU; Dante Minniti, Universidad Andres Bello, Chile

A Roman Galactic Plane Survey will throw open new avenues in areas not addressed by the Roman Core Community Surveys, including Galactic structure, star formation, and interstellar and stellar astrophysics.

Designing such a Roman Galactic Plane survey - poised to address the most pressing scientific cases without precluding further exploitation or extension in the years following the completion of the survey - means exploring the multiple trade-offs in a complex parameter space (coverage area, filters selection, dithering strategy, complementarity with existing or future Galactic Plane surveys).

This talk will discuss such trade-off and describe a preliminary example design.

337.03. Masses and Orbits for Planets Likely to be Observed with Ariel/CASE

2:30 to 2:40 p.m. CST

Robert Zellem, Jet Propulsion Laboratory, California Institute of Technology; Jennifer Burt, Jet Propulsion Laboratory, California Institute of Technology; David Ciardi, Caltech/IPAC-NExScI; Geoffrey Bryden, Jet Propulsion Laboratory, California Institute of Technology; Tiffany Kataria, Jet Propulsion Laboratory, California Institute of Technology; Kyle Pearson, Jet Propulsion Laboratory, California Institute of Technology; Jessie Christiansen, Caltech/IPAC-NExScI; BJ Fulton, Caltech/IPAC-NExScI.


Wednesday, January 10

A Discussion of Science Drivers for Defining Roman's Core Community Surveys (Splinter)

9 to 11:30 a.m. CST, Rooms 235 & 236

The Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope's Wide Field Instrument (WFI) will have a large field of view (0.28 sq deg), Hubble-like sensitivity and resolution, and highly efficient survey operations. Roman's WFI observing program will include both Core Community Surveys and General Astrophysics surveys, defined by a combination of a community-led process and traditional peer-reviewed calls for proposals. The Core Community Surveys will include a High Latitude Wide Area survey, a High Latitude Time Domain survey, and a Galactic Bulge Time Domain survey. In addition to addressing Roman's science requirements related to cosmology and exoplanet demographics, the science community has described an exciting range of science investigations that can be undertaken with data from these surveys, given appropriate observational strategies (https://roman.gsfc.nasa.gov/science/ccs_community_input.html).

The community-led effort to define Roman's Core Community Surveys is now underway, with the formation of the committees charged with defining the Core Community Surveys and their review of the science community's initial input. The purpose of this session is to provide attendees with an opportunity to engage with the definition committees for each survey on the prioritization of science drivers for survey definition and the identification of the most promising scientific synergies amongst the various science drivers. The session will include an introduction to each of the Core Community Survey definition committees and an overview of each committee's progress and plans, with the majority of the time reserved for discussion and community input. Approximately one-third of the time will be dedicated to each Core Community Survey. A detailed schedule for the Splinter Meeting will be available at the STScI, IPAC, and NASA booths.

321.01. The Pillars of Creation: Hubble and Webb in 3D

10 to 10:10 a.m. CST, Room 223

Frank Summers, STScI; Robert Hurt, Caltech/IPAC; Kimberly Arcand, Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory

The Pillars of Creation in the Eagle Nebula was one of the first Hubble images to gain iconic status amongst the public. That dazzling 1994 WFPC2 image was followed up by an even more spectacular 2014 WFC3 version that provided a wider field, higher resolution, and a few subtle changes over the two-decade timespan. More recently, Webb has turned its keen infrared gaze upon the pillars resulting in yet another incredible view with intriguing multiwavelength contrasts.

The AstroViz Project now tackles the considerable challenge of not only showcasing the striking comparison between visible and infrared observations of the pillars, but also to do so within a full three-dimensional model. The story that emerges is one concerning the connections and interplay between stars and dust within the pillars, within the Eagle Nebula, and, indeed, within the disk of the Milky Way Galaxy. We explore these and other learning messages through multi-sensory presentations of cinematic visuals, audio sonifications, and tactile experiences. Additional learning resources are provided on our Universe Unplugged web pages (universeunplugged.org) to foster further explorations into the topics and concepts of our work.

This presentation is based on work performed as part of the NASA's Universe of Learning (NASA's UoL) project and is supported by NASA under cooperative agreement award number NNX16AC65A. NASA's UoL creates and delivers science-driven, audience-focused resources and experiences designed to engage and immerse learners of all ages and backgrounds in exploring the universe for themselves. The competitively-selected project represents a unique partnership between the Space Telescope Science Institute, Caltech/IPAC, NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory, and the Center for Astrophysics | Harvard & Smithsonian, and is part of the NASA Science Mission Directorate Science Activation program.

321.02. 2024 Winter NASA's Astrophoto Challenge: Inviting Learners to Create Their Own Crab Nebula Using Multiwavelength and Multi-Epoch Data

10:10 to 10:20 a.m. CST, Room 223

Brandon Lawton, STScI; Kimberly Arcand, Center for Astrophysics | Harvard & Smithsonian; Christopher Britt, STScI; Joseph DePasquale, STScI; Rutuparna Das, Center for Astrophysics | Harvard & Smithsonian; Mary Dussault, Center for Astrophysics | Harvard & Smithsonian; Robert Hurt, Caltech/IPAC; John Maple, STScI; Keith Miller, Caltech/IPAC; Alyssa Pagan, STScI; Frank Sienkiewicz, Center for Astrophysics | Harvard & Smithsonian; Erika Wright, Center for Astrophysics | Harvard & Smithsonian; Robert Zellem, Jet Propulsion Laboratory - California Institute of Technology; Rachel Zimmerman-Brachman, Jet Propulsion Laboratory - California Institute of Technology; Denise Smith, STScI; Emma Marcucci, STScI; Gordon Squires, Caltech/IPAC; Travis Schirner, Jet Propulsion Laboratory - California Institute of Technology; Kathleen Lestition, Center for Astrophysics | Harvard & Smithsonian; Colleen Manning, Goodman Research Group, Inc.

The NASA's Universe of Learning (NASA's UoL) project creates and delivers science-driven, audience-driven resources and experiences designed to engage learners of all ages and backgrounds in exploring the universe for themselves. The competitively selected project represents a unique partnership between the Space Telescope Science Institute, Caltech/IPAC, NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory, and the Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory, and is part of the NASA Science Mission Directorate Science Activation program. Project objectives include increasing learners' understanding of the processes of science and key topics in astronomy, and increasing the role of NASA Astrophysics subject matter experts as partners.

To help meet these objectives, NASA's UoL has created NASA's Astrophoto Challenge, an innovative opportunity for public participation in authentic astronomical imaging. Each seasonal challenge features a deep space object. For this winter's challenge, we have selected the Crab Nebula. We include multiple datasets from Webb, Hubble, Chandra, and XMM-Newton. Participants can also acquire their own FITS image data of the Crab Nebula using the MicroObservatory Robotic Telescope Network. The challenge includes video briefings from astrophysicists on the science of the Crab Nebula, and instructions for participants on how to visualize their multi-wavelength and multi-epoch data with a version of the JS9 image analysis software adapted for novice learners.

NASA's Astrophoto Challenge opportunities are disseminated through partner networks of libraries, museums, and community organizations. Evaluation has documented participant gains in interest, knowledge, and skills related to astronomical imaging. There will be an additional focus for this winter's challenge on engaging learners with new Webb data and explorations of how the Crab pulsar changes with time via Chandra data. Participants submit their digitally enhanced astrophoto creations for review, and standout images are selected to receive comments from NASA subject matter experts. This presentation is based on work performed as part of the NASA's Universe of Learning project and is supported by NASA under cooperative agreement award number NNX16AC65A.

326.01. The Effects of Dust on UV and Optical Sizes of Disk Galaxies

10:20 to 10:30 a.m. CST, Room R01

Kalina Nedkova, Johns Hopkins University; Marc Rafelski, Space Telescope Science Institute (STScI); Laura DeGroot, College of Wooster; Swara Ravindranath, NASA GSFC; Harry Teplitz, Caltech/IPAC; Vihang Mehta, Caltech/IPAC; Henry Ferguson, Space Telescope Science Institute (STScI); Xin Wang, University of Chinese Academy of Sciences (UCAS); Anahita Alavi, Caltech/IPAC; Laura PricharAnahita Alavi, Caltech/IPACd, Space Telescope Science Institute (STScI); Ben Sunnquist, Space Telescope Science Institute (STScI); Norman Grogin, Space Telescope Science Institute (STScI); Anton Koekemoer, Space Telescope Science Institute (STScI); Rogier Windhorst, Arizona State University; Christopher Conselice, University of Manchester; Yicheng Guo, University of Missouri; Nimish Hathi, Space Telescope Science Institute (STScI); Boris Häußler, European Southern Observatory (ESO); Rolf Jansen, Arizona State University; Ray Lucas, Space Telescope Science Institute (STScI); Michael Rutkowski, Minnesota State University, Mankato; UVCANDELS.

Galaxy sizes as a function of redshift and wavelength offer insights into the buildup of stars, as the rest-frame UV traces recent star formation while the rest-frame optical is sensitive to the older underlying stellar population. Using high spatial resolution UV and blue-optical imaging data from the Ultraviolet Imaging of the Cosmic Assembly Near-infrared Deep Extragalactic Legacy Survey Fields (UVCANDELS), we measure the evolution of the sizes and the stellar mass-size relation of disk galaxies over 0.5 ≤ z ≤ 3.0 in the rest-frame UV and optical. UVCANDELS allows for sufficient statistics as it acquired 164 orbits of imaging in four of the five CANDELS fields: GOODS-N, GOODS-S, EGS, and COSMOS, covering a total area of ~430 arcmin2 and reaching a 5σ depth of mAB ≈ 27 and 28 for F275W and F435W, respectively. From these data, we find that the stellar mass-size relation of disk galaxies is steeper in the rest-frame UV than in the rest-frame optical at all redshifts. However, the effects of dust can often complicate the interpretation of such measurements. To understand if this is caused by inside-out growth or gradients in dust attenuation, we use the VELA simulations. We model and analyze dust attenuated and dust-free mock images in a way that is consistent with the modeling and analysis performed on the UVCANDELS data, and find that the effects of dust alone can explain the different sizes of galaxies observed in the rest-frame UV and optical. While the steepening of the mass-size relation in the UV has been previously observed and is reproduced by our results, we find that this steepening may instead be due to dust rather than evidence of inside-out growth of galaxies.

325.02. Pushing Near-Infrared Grism Spectroscopy Redward with JWST PASSAGE

10:10 to 10:20 a.m. CST, Room 227

James Colbert, Caltech; Vihang Mehta, Caltech/IPAC; Anahita Alavi, IPAC/Caltech; Matthew Malkan, University of California, Los Angeles; Marc Rafelski, Space Telescope Science Institute (STScI); Claudia Scarlata, University of Minnesota, Twin Cities; Harry Teplitz, Caltech/IPAC

We will present initial results from PASSAGE: Parallel Application of Slitless Spectroscopy to Analyze Galaxy Evolution (GO 1571), a wide field pure parallel survey of emission-line galaxies conducted with the NIRISS grisms. The NIRISS grisms aboard JWST provide a significant advancement over previous space-based near-infrared grisms in both sensitivity and wavelength coverage, particularly at the red wavelength end. The F200W/GR150 filter/grism combination spans 1.75 – 2.23 microns, which is beyond the wavelength limits of the WFC3 G141 grism, opening a largely unexplored regime of near-IR emission lines, most notably the [SIII] 9069+9532 and Paschen lines. The sulfur nebular emission lines have lower ionizing potentials than the more commonly used oxygen lines, making the sulfur lines both a more accurate tracer of regions of low optical depth than oxygen, probing farther out into the regions surrounding HII regions. The near-IR Paschen series lines are less sensitive to intervening dust and are therefore better tracers of the bolometric SFR than the rest-frame optical Balmer lines. They are also capable of measuring star formation that is optically thick in Balmer lines. The combination of Balmer and Paschen lines can also put strong constraints on nebular reddening and the ISM in which it originates.

310.04. Detecting outlier sources in galaxy photometric surveys using unsupervised machine learning techniques

10:30 to 10:40 a.m. CST, Room 207

Marziye Jafariyazani, Caltech/IPAC; Andreas Faisst, Caltech/IPAC; Daniel Masters, Caltech/IPAC; Harry Teplitz, Caltech/IPAC

One of the challenges in large scale galaxy surveys is to find outlier sources efficiently and reliably among the data. Outliers could be the result of data-processing issues, observational biases (e.g., blended sources), or a rare/new type of source with unexpected properties. In each case, correctly identifying outliers has huge benefits both for improving data processing pipelines and for addressing specific science questions that can potentially transform our knowledge. In this work, we develop a routine based on an unsupervised Self Organizing Map algorithm to detect outlier sources in galaxy photometric surveys. We present our results on applying this algorithm to a set of simulated data with ugrizYJH broadband photometry, and particularly discuss the success rate of the algorithm in correctly detecting each type of known anomalies in the data. The specific filter set we selected for this study is analogous to what will soon become available for a statistically large sample of galaxies by Euclid and Vera Rubin telescopes.


Thursday, January 11

428.07. Using Spatially Resolved Star Formation Histories in UVCANDELS to Trace the Evolution of the Resolved Star Formation Rate - Stellar Mass Correlation

10 to 11:30 p.m. CST, Rooms R01

Charlotte Olsen, CUNY New York City College of Technology; Eric Gawiser, Rutgers University; Kartheik Iyer, Columbia University ; Harry Teplitz, Caltech/IPAC; Xin Wang, University of Chinese Academy of Sciences (UCAS); Anahita Alavi, IPAC/Caltech; Laura Prichard, Space Telescope Science Insitute; Norman Grogin, Space Telescope Science Institute; Nimish Hathi, STScI; Anton Koekemoer, STScI; Ray Lucas, STScI; Marc Rafelski, Space Telescope Science Institute (STScI); Vihang Mehta, Caltech/IPAC; Swara Ravindranath, NASA GSFC; Rogier Windhorst, Arizona State University; Christopher Conselice, University of Manchester; Brent Smith, Arizona State University; Ben Sunnquist, STScI.

Understanding the complicated processes behind feedback mechanisms and baryon cycling is key to our comprehension of galaxy evolution. One way of tracing these processes is through how and where a galaxy forms its stars. This can be analyzed through scaling relations between in-situ properties such as the relationship between star formation rate (SFR) and stellar mass (M*) or by studying the build up of stellar mass through time with a galaxy star formation history (SFH). By applying these approaches to resolved regions within galaxies we gain insight into the timing and location of environmental drivers of galaxy evolution. We take advantage of the addition of the ultra-violet (UV) data in the UVCANDELS GOODS-N, GOODS-S, COSMOS, and EGS fields to fit the SED for sub-regions within galaxies across 10 space-based imaging bands ranging from 275nm to 1.6 microns, covering rest-frame UV-through-near-infrared light for our 0.1<z<0.9 sample. We tessellate these images by defining regions per galaxy that satisfy limits on diameter, color variation, and signal-to-noise ratio. We then fit the spectral energy distributions (SEDs) of these regions over all the UVCANDELS bands and reconstruct a nonparametric star formation history (SFH) of each region. With these SFHs we map the recent evolution of properties such as SFR, M* and specific star formation rate (sSFR) within each region, as well as recreate the resolved SFR-M* correlation at several different time steps. This allows us to trace the evolution of the normalization and the zeropoint of the correlation for regions within galaxies over time in addition to giving us the power to track the degree of stochasticity for individual regions as they traverse the correlation.

447.01. Planet-Hosting M Dwarfs Have Fewer Close-In Stellar Companions

2 to 2:10 p.m. CST, Room 223

Catherine Clark, Jet Propulsion Laboratory, California Institute of Technology; Gerard van Belle, Lowell Observatory; Elliott Horch, Southern Connecticut State Univ.; David Ciardi, Caltech/IPAC-NASA Exoplanet Science Institute; Kaspar von Braun, Lowell Observatory; Brian Skiff, Lowell Observatory; Jennifer Winters, Bridgewater State University; Michael Lund, Caltech/IPAC-NASA Exoplanet Science Institute.

MoonLITE: the Lunar InTerferometry Explorer

3:10 to 3:20 p.m. CST, Room 227

Gerard van Belle, Lowell Observatory; David Ciardi, Caltech/IPAC-NExSCI; Daniel Hillsberry, Redwire Space, Inc.; Vineel Rao-Aourpally, Redwire Space, Inc.; Tabetha Boyajian, Louisiana State University; Kenneth Carpenter, NASA's GSFC; Catherine Clark, Jet Propulsion Laboratory, California Institute of Technology; Anders Jorgensen, New Mexico Institute of Mining & Technology; John Monnier, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor; Krista Smith, Texas A&M University; Gail Schaefer, CHARA Array - Georgia State University

The MoonLITE (Lunar InTerferometry Explorer) project is a 2023 NASA Astrophysics Pioneers proposal to develop, build, fly, and operate the first separated-aperture optical interferometer in space, delivering faint, sub-milliarcsecond science results. MoonLITE is proposed fly as a Pioneers hosted payload aboard one of NASA's Commercial Lunar Payload Services (CLPS) landers, to deliver an optical interferometer to the lunar surface. The combination of high spatial resolution from optical interferometry, with deep sensitivity from the stability of the lunar surface, would open up unprecedented discovery space. After landing on the lunar surface, the CLPS rover will deploy the pre-loaded MoonLITE outboard optical element 100 meters from the lander, establishing a interferometric observatory with a single deployment. MoonLITE combines a 110 microarcsecond limiting spatial resolution with enough sensitivity to observe targets fainter than 17th magnitude in the visible. The capabilities of MoonLITE open a unique discovery space that includes direct size measurements of the smallest, coolest stars and substellar brown dwarfs; searches for close-in stellar companions orbiting exoplanet-hosting stars that could confound our understanding and characterization of the frequency of earth-like planets; direct size measurements of young stellar objects and characterization of the terrestrial planet forming regions of these young stars; measurements of the inner regions and binary fraction of active galactic nuclei; and probing the very nature of spacetime foam itself. Twenty percent of the observing time of this revolutionary observatory will be also made available to the broader community via a guest observer program. MoonLITE takes advantage of the CLPS opportunity to place an interferometer in space, on a stable lunar surface, and delivers an unprecedented combination of sensitivity and angular resolution, at the remarkably affordable cost point of Pioneers.

Posters

Monday, January 8

179.04. The LUSTER program: Exoplanet Atmospheres from the Moon

5:30 to 6:30 p.m. CST, Hall B-1 & B-2

Tabetha Boyajian, Louisiana State University; Jessie Christiansen, Caltech/IPAC-NExScI; Ian Crossfield, KU (University of Kansas); Brian Fleming, University of Colorado, Boulder; Franck Marchis, SETI Institute; Jon Morse, BoldlyGo Enterprises, LLC; Matthew Penny, Louisiana State University; Angelle Tanner, Mississippi State University; Farzaneh Zohrabi, Louisiana State University; LUSTER team.

We are advancing the design of a UV-sensitive telescope, featuring a ~20-cm aperture and a wide-field design equipped with a 300-400 nm sensitive detector. This telescope will be stationed on an upcoming NASA-sponsored robotic lunar lander, scheduled for launch in the late 2020’s. It will serve as the primary instrument for the Lunar-based Survey for Time-Domain Exoplanet Research (LUSTER) program, aiming at the transmission spectro-photometry of several dozen well-known transiting Jupiter-mass planets orbiting luminous host stars.

LUSTER’s core objective is to broaden the transmission spectral coverage into the UV wavelengths, thus complementing data from the Hubble Space Telescope (HST), James Webb Space Telescope (JWST), and ground-based programs, majorly active in optical and infrared wavelengths. Delving into the UV spectrum is crucial to comprehend the roles of clouds, hazes and metallicity on the spectral features observed at longer wavelengths. These data will provide a breakthrough in atmospheric modeling by overcoming the limitations associated with assumed compositions and temperature-pressure profiles.

Utilizing the lunar surface for observations offers significant advantages compared to terrestrial telescopes and small satellites in low-Earth orbit. These advantages encompass access to near-UV wavelengths, the precision of photometry made possible by the vacuum environment and a highly stable platform, and the extended, uninterrupted observing window lasting up to two weeks during the lunar day. This presentation will delve into the merits of lunar observatories, our telescope's design, and the essence of the LUSTER project.

171. Best Practices in High School Astronomy (Session)

5:30 to 6:30 p.m. CST, Hall B-1 & B-2

See descriptions below for 171.01-03 & 171.05 for constituent iPosters for this session.

171.01 Young stellar students and objects: Illuminating astronomy research for students and teachers (iPoster)

5:30-6:30 p.m. CST, Hall B-1/B-2

Debbie McKay, WVU (HSTA); Luisa Rebull, Caltech/IPAC-IRSA; Olivia Kuper, North Greene High School/NITARP; Rosina Garcia, San Diego Unified School District; Ace Schwarz, The Shipley School; Damian Baraty, Severn School.

Participation in the NASA/IPAC Teacher Archive Research Program (NITARP) offers educators a unique opportunity to engage in authentic astronomical research alongside professional astronomers, fostering a deeper understanding of scientific practices and principles. By collaborating on cutting-edge projects, teachers enhance their own content knowledge and teaching techniques, transforming our approach to classroom instruction and benefits to students.

The benefits of NITARP extend far beyond our group of participating teachers. Through this experience, we bring real-world research experiences into our classrooms, inspiring students and providing them with a tangible link between classroom learning and practical applications. This exposure to genuine research practices stimulates students' interest in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) fields, encouraging them to consider pursuing STEM careers in the future.

We collaborated closely during the research process. Our project involved data analysis of young stellar objects. We learned to make and interpret images, spectral energy distributions, and color-color and color-magnitude diagrams. As a result, we also developed data literacy and analytical skills that are increasingly essential in our data-driven world.

Incorporating NITARP experiences into classroom teaching empowers us to create interactive and engaging lessons that spark curiosity and critical thinking. The firsthand exposure to the scientific process also helps dispel common misconceptions about research and strengthens students' understanding of collaborative astronomical research.

Our participation in NITARP not only enriched our own professional development but also directly benefited our students. By infusing classrooms with authentic research experiences, we can inspire a new generation of curious minds and cultivate a passion for scientific exploration. NITARP has significantly impacted both educators and students, in shaping the future of STEM education.

This work was made possible through the NASA/IPAC Teacher Archive Research Program (NITARP) and was funded by NASA Astrophysics Data Program.

 

171.02. Building Confidence and Combating Imposter Syndrome Through Student-Educator Research Projects

5:30 to 6:30 p.m. CST, Hall B-1 & B-2

Justin Hickey, Episcopal High School; David Friedlander-Holm, The Bay School of San Francisco; Donald Carpenetti, Craven Community College; Cea Fortarezzo, Strawberry Mansion High School; Spencer Cody, Edmunds Central School District; Varoujan Gorjian, Jet Propulsion Laboratory, California Institute of Technology

Over the course of 2023, five educators—members of the NASA/IPAC Teacher Archive Research Project (NITARP)—worked alongside a small group of students to conduct a research project using archival data from the Infrared Processing and Analysis Center (IPAC). We know that science educators are often underprepared to do "real science" and, as such, we have documented how our experience has reduced our imposter syndrome. Furthermore, our students' experiences working side by side with us have made them feel more comfortable "doing science." Involving students in teleconferences and research broke down formal barriers and let us all collaborate as scientists. We assessed student impact through Likert scale perceptions and open-ended questions to include student voices. These questions were both quantitative and qualitative to assess this program's benefits for students as learners and scientists. We think this builds confidence and lowers the likelihood of being driven out of science.

171.03. NITARP Lesson Plans: Bite-Size Pieces of Authentic Science Research Experiences

5:30 to 6:30 p.m. CST, Hall B-1 & B-2

Luisa Rebull, Caltech/IPAC-IRSA; John Blackwell, Phillips Exeter Academy; Rita Ciambra, Peoples Academy High School; Debbie French, Wake Forest University; Nicholas Goeldi, Ripon Area School District; Varoujan Gorjian, Jet Propulsion Laboratory; Nicole Granucci, Quinnipiac University, Hamden CT; Kathleen Gustavson, Nicolet HS; Chelen Johnson, Annie Wright Schools; Olivia Kuper, North Greene High School/NITARP; James Newland, Bellaire High School; Laura Orr, Ukiah High School, NITARP; Thomas Rutherford, King University; Alissa Sperling, Springside Chestnut Hill Academy; Vincent Urbanowski, Academy of Information Technology & Engineering; Ethan Van Winkle, Southeast High School.

The NASA/IPAC Teacher Archive Research Program (NITARP; http://nitarp.ipac.caltech.edu) partners small groups of (largely) high school educators with a research astronomer for a year-long authentic research project. It has been operating, in one form or another, since 2005. The primary goal of NITARP is to have the research teams present their research in posters at winter AAS meetings, and indeed, the two 2023 teams are presenting at this AAS, in sessions appropriate for their science. The teams also present posters about the educational aspects of what they are doing, and the 2023 teams are also presenting education posters here. We know based on educational research and surveys of the participants that the NITARP experience subsequently positively influences participants' science teaching. However, one thing that is missing from the NITARP experience is the production of concrete, sharable lesson plans based on skills learned during NITARP, specifically lesson plans that might be distributed within and beyond NITARP alumni. NITARP alumni are diverse, representing schools that are large/medium/small, urban/suburban/rural, public/private, settings ranging among middle school/high school/community college/museum/ informal ed, physics/astronomy/earth science/chemistry/math/computer science teachers, in classrooms (quarter, semester, year-long)/clubs/dedicated research classes/individual mentoring contexts. Therefore, even the same individual concept may need several different implementations to work in these wildly different environments. We have embarked on an effort to take a "typical" rich NITARP experience, break it into "bite-size" pieces, and develop at least one lesson plan for each piece that will work in at least a few of these environments. This poster describes our efforts thus far.

171.05. Reaching for the Stars: How Research Experience Has Expanded the Scope of a High School Astronomy Club

5:30 to 6:30 p.m. CST, Hall B-1 & B-2

Rosina Garcia, San Diego Unified School District; Hannah Davidson, La Jolla High School; Arin Berger, La Jolla High School; Zoe Chiu, La Jolla High School

We participated in the NASA/IPAC Teacher Archive Research Program (NITARP) in 2023. Our La Jolla High School team worked with an astronomer from the California Institute of Technology and studied target regions from the Sharpless catalog to look for candidate young stellar objects. The research experience enables students to collaborate with peers, communicate results, and establish research skills not provided in a typical classroom setting.

As a part of their involvement as 2023 NITARP participants, the group has exposed La Jolla High School students to science disciplines beyond the general science courses available. The club has utilized its social media platform to share content related to astronomy and reach out to other students, particularly from minority backgrounds, to pursue careers in Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math. We have expanded the reach of the Astronomy and Astrophysics Club.

181.01. Looking for Young Stellar Objects in Obscure Sharpless Regions

5:30 to 6:30 p.m. CST, Hall B-1 & B-2

Olivia Kuper, North Greene High School/NITARP; Luisa Rebull, Caltech/IPAC-IRSA; Damian Baraty, Severn School; Rosina Garcia, San Diego Unified School District; Debbie McKay, WVU ( HSTA); Ace Schwarz, The Shipley School; Arin Berger, La Jolla High School; Zoe Chiu, La Jolla High School; Hannah Davidson, La Jolla High School; Jennifer Gomez-Gallardo, Severn School; Kenley Graham, North Greene High School; Anderson Knipe, The Shipley School; Bennett McLain, North Greene High School; Lily Pressman, The Shipley School; Tara Qualey, Severn School; Emily Sutton, Severn School

Our research group used archival data to search for and identify candidate young stellar objects (YSOs) in selected Sharpless Catalog regions. Stuart Sharpless identified and cataloged 313 HII regions in the entire sky north of declination -27° (Sharpless 1959). Many of those HII regions are famous star forming regions, already studied extensively using multiwavelength data. Of those 313 regions, we identified about 60 targets that have not yet been mined for YSOs using infrared (IR) and optical data but appeared that they might harbor YSOs. We noticed patterns in the IR images: (a) targets where there was obvious IR nebulosity and therefore likely YSOs; (b) targets with small, largely circular clumps of blue stars; (c) dispersed apparently red stars. We selected objects from each of these categories, plus a comparison region that did not look like any of those regions but is still a Sharpless catalog object. We therefore analyzed 9 Sharpless targets in 6 small regions to look for YSO candidates. We combed the literature for existing YSO candidates and used IR colors to identify additional YSO candidates (Gutermuth et al. 2008,2009; Koenig et al. 2014). We collected and bandmerged archival infrared and optical data from 2MASS, AllWISE, PanSTARRS, Gaia, IPHAS, Spitzer, and Herschel. We inspected images where possible to make sure the candidate YSOs were single point sources. We constructed color-color and color-magnitude diagrams of the regions to see where the YSO candidates fall. We also compared color-color and color-magnitude diagrams across and within regions to determine relative ages. We then can compare the "yield" of YSO candidates across the different categories of region (a, b, c above) to determine which type is more likely to harbor YSO candidates.

This research was made possible through the NASA/IPAC Teacher Archive Research Program (NITARP) and was funded by NASA Astrophysics Data Program.


Tuesday, January 9

202.05. An Investigation of New Brown Dwarf Spectral Binary Candidates From the Backyard Worlds: Planet 9 Citizen Science Initiative

9 to 10 a.m. CST, Hall B-1 & B-2

Alexia Bravo, US Naval Observatory Flagstaff Station; Adam Schneider, US Naval Observatory Flagstaff Station; Daniella Bardalez Gagliuffi, Department of Physics and Astronomy Amherst College; Adam Burgasser, University of California, San Diego; Aaron Meisner, NSF's NOIRLab; J. Davy Kirkpatrick, Caltech/IPAC; Jacqueline Faherty, American Museum of Natural History; Marc Kuchner, NASA/GSFC; Dan Caselden, American Museum of Natural History; Arttu Sainio, Backyard Worlds; Leslie Hamlet, Backyard Worlds: Planet 9 Collaboration; The Backyard Worlds: Planet 9 Collaboration

Our study examines three new brown dwarf spectral binary candidates, CWISE J072708.09-360729.2, CWISE J103604.84-514424.4, and CWISE J134446.62-732053.9, which were discovered by citizen scientists actively participating in the Backyard Worlds: Planet 9 initiative. Through subsequent near-infrared spectroscopy, we find that these objects are poorly fit by single near-infrared standards. However, through the construction of binary templates, we achieve notably improved fits, attributing component types of L7+T4, L7+T4, and L7+T7 to CWISE J072708.09-360729.2, CWISE J103604.84-514424.4, and CWISE J134446.62-732053.9, respectively. Additionally, we calculate spectroscopic indices to investigate for indications of both binarity as well as high-amplitude variability, identifying CWISE J072708.09-360729.2 as a strong variable candidate. Our findings provide preliminary evidence and characterization of distinct brown dwarf sources, underscoring their potential as compelling targets for continued investigations through high-resolution imaging or analysis of photometric variability.

 

202.12. Utilizing Citizen Science to Identify New Ultracool Benchmark Systems

9 to 10 a.m. CST, Hall B-1 & B-2

Austin Rothermich, CUNY Graduate Center; Jacqueline Faherty, American Museum of Natural History; Daniella Bardalez Gagliuffi, American Museum of Natural History; Adam Schneider, US Naval Observatory Flagstaff Station; J. Kirkpatrick, Caltech/IPAC; Aaron Meisner, NSF's NOIRLab; Adam Burgasser, University of California, San Diego; Marc Kuchner, NASA/GSFC; Katelyn Allers, Bucknell University; Jonathan Gagné, Planètarium Rio Tinto Alcan; Dan Caselden, American Museum of Natural History; Emily Calamari, Graduate Center CUNY; Mark Popinchalk, American Museum of Natural History; Roman Gerasimov, University of California San Diego; Christian Aganze, Stanford University; Christopher Theissen, University of California San Diego; Jon Rees, UCO/Lick Observatory; Rosario Cecilio-Flores-Elie, The Graduate Center CUNY; Chih-Chun Hsu, CIERA, Northwestern University; Preethi Karpoor, University of California, San Diego; Emma Softich, Arizona State University; Michael Cushing, University of Toledo; Federico Marocco, IPAC, Caltech; Sarah Casewell, University of Leicester; Leslie Hamlet, Backyard Worlds: Planet 9 Collaboration; Tom Bickle, Backyard Worlds: Planet 9 Collaboration; Genaro Suarez, American Museum of Natural History; Michaela Allen, NASA/GSFC.

Ultracool dwarfs, which include the lowest mass stars and brown dwarfs, are notoriously difficult to characterize, owing to their intrinsic faintness and the numerous molecular species which arise in their low temperature atmospheres, resulting in highly structured and complex spectral energy distributions. Brown dwarfs, objects which form below the minimum hydrogen burning limit (~75 Mjup), complicate this further, as their thermal evolution results in a degeneracy between mass, temperature, and age. While much progress has been made in the characterization of ultracool dwarf atmospheres, the ability to independently know the physical properties of the object (such as age and metallicity) allow for greater opportunities to test and constrain theoretical models. One group of these ultracool "benchmarks" are those which are found in widely separated pairs with more easily characterized objects, such as main sequence stars. Utilizing the citizen science project Backyard Worlds: Planet 9, we present 89 new ultracool dwarf benchmark systems. We discuss the characteristics of the sample, and place these systems into context with known stellar binaries and exoplanet systems. We also provide a preliminary look into the diversity of ultracool dwarfs identified via Backyard Worlds: Planet 9.

 

258.15. Flat Field Estimation for SPHEREx

5:30 to 6:30 p.m. CST, Hall B-1 & B-2

We develop a new flat field estimation method by stacking exposures of diffuse zodiacal light, the dominant signal in the near-infrared for the SPHEREx satellite. The Spectro-Photometer for the History of the universe, Epoch of Reionization, and Ices Explorer (SPHEREx) is a near-infrared all-sky spectral survey between 0.75-5.0 microns with a planned launch date of early 2025. Given the large 3.5 by 11 degree field of view and broad spectral coverage of SPHEREx, this method includes corrections for the zodiacal light spectrum and the effect of the change in solar elongation angle across the detectors. We validate this module using simulated SPHEREx sky exposures containing diffuse sky signal and lab-derived instrument templates and demonstrate that it meets the 1% absolute gain mission requirement. Finally, we study the systematic effects in the science products due to imperfect estimation of the relative flat field in the SPHEREx pipeline. In particular, we place preliminary constraints on the error in the 100 square degree deep field mosaic maps used in the galaxy evolution (or extragalactic background light) study. This method can also be extended to assess pixel-to-pixel variations in dark current.

 

259.15. Wide-field Retrieval of Astrodata Program: Efficient Photometry and Astrometry Gathering

5:30 to 6:30 p.m. CST, Hall B-1 & B-2

Hunter Brooks, Northern Arizona University; J. Davy Kirkpatrick, Caltech/IPAC; Dan Caselden, American Museum of Natural History; Adam Schneider, US Naval Observatory Flagstaff Station; Aaron Meisner, NSF's NOIRLab; Yadukrishna Raghu, Backyard Worlds; Jacqueline Faherty, American Museum of Natural History; Marc Kuchner, NASA/GSFC; The Backyard Worlds: Planet 9 Collaboration

We present the Wide-field Retrieval of Astrodata Program (WRAP), an application designed to assist astronomers in efficiently gathering photometry and astrometry for point-source objects. WRAP simplifies the process of gathering astrodata by allowing astronomers to input desired R.A. and Decl. coordinates, alongside a search radius, to provide imaged catalog searches for streamlined data collection. Improving upon the previous technique of cone searches by allowing visual confirmations for high proper motion objects. Developed within the Backyard Worlds: Planet 9 citizen science project, WRAP quickens the collection of photometric and astrometric data for objects discovered in this collaboration.

261.08. The DSA-2000 Public Archive and Photometry Pipeline

5:30 to 6:30 p.m. CST, Hall B-1 & B-2

Rachel Akeson, Caltech/IPAC; Lee Armus, Caltech/IPAC; Vandana Desai, Caltech/IPAC; Gregory Dubois-Felsmann, Caltech/IPAC; Steven Groom, Caltech/IPAC; Casey Law, Caltech; Benjamin Rusholme, Caltech/IPAC; DSA-2000 Collaboration, Caltech.

The Deep Synoptic Array (DSA-2000) is a next-generation radio interferometer concept optimized for high survey speed and sensitivity, which will enable a broad range of astronomical topics. The DSA-2000 public archive, including the Cadenced All-Sky Survey will be hosted at the NASA/IPAC Infrared Science Archive (IRSA), providing community access to the data along with visualization, data analysis tools, and co-located computing resources. IRSA currently contains all-sky coverage in 29 bands, including 2MASS and WISE/NEOWISE, and will host Euclid and SPHEREx data in the next few years. Users will be able to search and visualize DSA-2000 data in conjunction with these other surveys. IPAC will also develop and operate a photometry pipeline, producing a roughly 1 billion source catalog, which will also be available at IRSA. We will describe the planned capabilities and design of the DSA-2000 archive and photometry pipeline.

 

Young Stellar Object Candidates in IC 417

5:30 to 6:30 p.m. CST, Hall B-1 & B-2

Luisa Rebull, Caltech/IPAC; Robert Anderson, JL Mann High School; Garrison Hall, Roper Mountain Science Center Planetarium; J. Kirkpatrick, Caltech/IPAC; Xavier Koenig, NASA/IPAC Teacher Archive Research Project (NITARP); Caroline Odden, Phillips Academy; Brandon Rodriguez, NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory; R. Sanchez, Clear Creek Middle School; Benjamin Senson, Madison College/ MMSD Planetarium; Vincent Urbanowski, Academy of Information Technology & Engineering; Magdalene Austin, J L Mann Academy; Kimberly Blood, Glendale Unified School District; Elizabeth Kerman, Glendale Unified School District; Jacob Long, Jame L. Mann High School; Norty Roosa, Glendale Unified School District.

IC 417 is in the Galactic plane, and likely part of the Aur OB2 association; it is ∼2 kpc away, almost in the direction of the Galactic anti-center. Stock 8 is one of the densest cluster constituents of IC 417; off of it to the east, there is a "nebulous stream" (NS) that is dramatic in the infrared (IR). We have assembled a list of literature-identified young stellar objects (YSOs), new candidate YSOs from the NS, and new candidate YSOs from IR excesses. We vetted this list via individual star-by-star inspection of the images, spectral energy distributions (SEDs), and color–color/color–magnitude diagrams. We placed the 710 surviving YSOs and candidate YSOs in ranked bins, nearly two-thirds of which have more than 20 points defining their SEDs. The lowest-ranked bins include stars that are confused, or likely carbon stars. There are 503 in the higher-ranked bins; half are SED Class III, and ∼40% are SED Class II. Our results agree with the literature in that we find that the NS and Stock 8 are at about the same distance from Earth (as are the rest of the YSOs in IC 417), and that the NS is the youngest region, with Stock 8 being a little older. We do not find any evidence for an age spread within the NS, consistent with the idea that the star formation trigger came from the north. We do not find that the other literature-identified clusters here are as young as either the NS or Stock 8; at best, they are older than Stock 8, and they may not all be legitimate clusters.

This work was conducted as part of the NASA/IPAC Teacher Archive Research Program (NITARP; https://nitarp.ipac.caltech.edu), which receives funding from the NASA ADAP program. Teachers (and their students) from two teams (2015 and 2020/2021) worked on this project. We acknowledge the additional students not on the author list who contributed their time and energy to this work in both large and small ways.


Wednesday, January 10

306.07. PRIMA: Revealing The Evolution of Galactic Ecosystems

9 to 10 a.m. CST, Hall B-1 & B-2

Elisabeth Mills, University of Kansas; Alberto Bolatto, University of Maryland, College Park; Carlotta Gruppioni, INAF; Alexandra Pope, University of Massachusetts, Amherst; Lee Armus, Caltech/IPAC; John-David Smith, University of Toledo; Rachel Somerville, Flatiron Institute/Rutgers University; Denis Burgarella, Laboratoire D'Astrophysique de Marseille; Laure Ciesla, Laboratoire D'Astrophysique de Marseille; Laura Bisigello, Università di Padova; Jason Glenn, NASA GSFC; Margaret Meixner, Jet Propulsion Laboratory; Charles Bradford, Jet Propulsion Laboratory; Klaus Pontoppidan, Space Telescope Science Institute; PRIMA Science Team.

306.12. Properties of giant star-forming clumps and their host galaxies observed by HST and JWST in UVCANDELS

9 to 10 a.m. CST, Hall B-1 & B-2

Alec Martin, University of Missouri - Columbia; Yicheng Guo, University of Missouri - Columbia; Xin Wang, University of Chinese Academy of Sciences (UCAS); Anton Koekemoer, STScI; Marc Rafelski, STScI; Harry Teplitz, Caltech/IPAC; Rogier Windhorst, Arizona State University; Anahita Alavi, Caltech/IPAC; Norman Grogin, STScI; Laura Prichard, STScI; Ben Sunnquist, STScI; Daniel Ceverino, Universidad Autonoma de Madrid; Nima Chartab, The Observatories of the Carnegie Institution for Science; Christopher Conselice, University of Manchester; Y. Sophia Dai, National Astronomical Observatories, Chinese Academy of Sciences South America Center for Astronomy (CASSACA); Avishai Dekel, The Hebrew University of Jerusalem; Jonathan Gardner, NASA's GSFC; Eric Gawiser, Rutgers University; Nimish Hathi, STScI; Matthew Hayes, Stockholm University; Marc Huertas-Company, Observatoire de Paris; Rolf Jansen, Arizona State University; Zhiyuan Ji, University of Arizona; David Koo, University of California, Santa Cruz; Ray Lucas, STScI; Nir Mandelker, The Hebrew University of Jerusalem; Vihang Mehta, Caltech/IPAC; Bahram Mobasher, University of California, Riverside; Kalina Nedkova, Johns Hopkins University; Joel Primack, UCSC; Swara Ravindranath, STScI; Brant Robertson, University of California, Santa Cruz; Michael Rutkowski, Minnesota State University, Mankato; Zahra Sattari, University of California, Riverside; Emmaris Soto, Computational Physics, Inc.; L. Y. Aaron Yung, NASA's GSFC.

Giant star-forming clumps are a prominent feature of star-forming galaxies (SFGs) and contain important clues on galaxy formation and evolution. We used the HST/WFC3 F275W images from the Ultraviolet Imaging of the Cosmic Assembly Near-infrared Deep Extragalactic Legacy Survey (UVCANDELS) to investigate the basic demographics of clumps and clumpy galaxies at redshift 0.5 < z < 1, connecting two epochs when clumps are common (at the cosmic high-noon, z~2) and rare (in the local universe). We found that clumpy galaxies are on average larger in size, higher in SFR and bluer in color than non-clumpy SFGs of the same mass. They are, however, similar in overall morphology to non-clumpy SFGs as indicated by their Sérsic index. We also found that on average, more luminous star-forming regions reside in more luminous, smaller, and/or higher-specific SFR galaxies and are found closer to their hosts' galactic center. Our results are consistent with in-situ clump formation through violent disk instability. We combined HST images with JWST CEERS images to measure the photometry of clumps over a wide range of wavelengths from rest-frame UV to rest-frame NIR. We also ran Bayesian SED-fitting to measure the physical properties of clumps (M*, SFR, age, and Av). These properties will be compared to the state-of-the-art simulations to constrain the effects of feedback on clump evolution.

306.21. Probing Star Formation and the Interstellar Medium conditions in Distant Galaxies: Insights from JWST MIRI Spectroscopy

9 to 10 a.m. CST, Hall B-1 & B-2

Sophie Booth, University of Massachusetts - Amherst; Alexandra Pope, University of Massachusetts, Amherst; Lee Armus, California Institute of Technology/IPAC; Miriam Eleazer, University of Massachusetts Amherst; Shao-Yu (Thomas) Lai, Caltech/IPAC; Anna Sajina, Tufts University; Lin Yan, California Institute of Technology; Jason Young, University of Massachusetts Amherst.

Two open questions in galaxy evolution are how star formation is driven by the conditions of the interstellar medium (ISM) and how the central AGN impacts the ISM. The goal of this project is to address these questions using a sample of 8 z=0.6 galaxies observed with JWST MIRI/MRS. This exciting new data collected by JWST allows us to see these galaxies in much higher resolution. These dusty infrared galaxies span a range of active galactic nucleus fraction, meaning that some are more dominated by star formation and some more dominated by their active central black hole. Looking at the mid-infrared spectra of these galaxies allows us to measure the gas and dust properties in the interstellar medium. Specifically, we use spectral decomposition codes in order to simultaneously fit all of the spectral features, including the continuum, dust emission features, atomic emission lines and warm molecular hydrogen lines. In this presentation, we focus on the features from Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons (PAHs) since these are abundant molecules in star forming regions of galaxies and allow us to probe the properties of the dust. The suite of PAH emission lines provide a measure of the star formation rate, the dust grain size distribution and the ionization state of the dust. We explore the PAH line ratios as a function of AGN fraction in order to learn how the dust properties are affected by the strength of the central AGN.


Thursday, January 11

404.12. Radio and Hubble Space Telescope observations of a candidate isolated gas-poor dwarf galaxy

9 to 10 a.m. CST, Hall B-1 & B-2

Xavier Mendoza, San Jose State University; Aaron Romanowsky, San Jose State University; Elizabeth Adams, ASTRON; Denija Crnojevic, University of Tampa; Seppo Laine, Caltech/IPAC

We investigate the dwarf galaxy R-127-1, initially identified as an isolated, quiescent ultra-diffuse galaxy at a distance of ~75 Mpc. Observations using the Hubble Space Telescope reveal resolved stars that suggest a much closer distance of ~10 Mpc. We search for HI gas emission at a low redshift using data from the Effelsberg radio telescope and from the Very Large Array. We also characterize the environment of R-127-1 to determine if it is a rare example of an isolated, gas-poor dwarf galaxy.

457.02. PRIMA: Studying the Rise of Dust and Metals Throughout Cosmic Times

1 to 2 p.m. CST, Hall B-1 & B-2

Johannes Staguhn, Johns Hopkins University; Brandon Hensley, Jet Propulsion Laboratory, California Institute of Technology; John-David Smith, University of Toledo; Lee Armus, Caltech/IPAC; Laura Bisgello, University of Padova; Alberto Bolatto, University of Maryland, College Park; Laure Ciesla, LAM; C. Dowell, Jet Propulsion Laboratory, California Institute of Technology; Eiichi Egami, Univ. of Arizona; Carlotta Gruppioni, INAF; Christopher Hayward, Flatiron Institute; Enrique Lopez Rodriguez, Stanford University; Jed McKinney, The University of Texas at Austin; Julia Roman-Duval, Space Telescope Science Institute; Marc Sauvage, CEA; Irene Shivaei, University of California, Riverside; Cory Whitcomb, University of Toledo; Jason Glenn, NASA GSFC; Margaret Meixner, Jet Propulsion Laboratory, California Institute of Technology; Charles Bradford, Jet Propulsion Laboratory, California Institute of Technology; Alexandra Pope, University of Massachusetts, Amherst; Klaus Pontoppidan, Jet Propulsion Laboratory, California Institute of Technology; PRIMA Science Team.

PRIMA (The PRobe for-Infrared Mission for Astrophysics; PI: J. Glenn) is a concept for a far-IR observatory, developed in response to the Announcement of Opportunity (A) for an Astrophysics Probe Explorer (APEX) issued by NASA in July 2023. PRIMA features a cryogenically cooled 1.8 m diameter telescope and is designed to carry two science instruments enabling ultra-high sensitivity imaging and spectroscopic studies in the 24 to 264 um wavelength range. The resulting observatory is a powerful survey and discovery machine, with mapping speeds better by 2-4 orders of magnitude with respect to its far-IR predecessors. The APEX AO specifies that the bulk of the observing time should be made available to the community through a Guest Observer (GO) program offering no less than 70% of the mission time over 5 years, resulting in twice as many hours as Herschel for General Observer science. PRIMA is designed to address the science objectives for a far-infrared probe as highlighted in Astro2020. Here we discuss how PRIMA will address crucial questions around the evolution of dust and metals throughout cosmic times.

Dust and metals evolve together in galaxies. The metallicity of the interstellar medium (ISM) factors heavily into a galaxy’s dust evolution and with that strongly impacts star- and its associated planet formation. Feedback mechanisms are responsible for injection and destruction of dust, with current observational data being insufficient to explain how dust exists in galaxies despite rapid destruction by supernovae. With full band spectroscopy, hyperspectral (R~8), and polarimetric continuum coverage ranging from the MIR to beyond 200 microns, PRIMA provides the observational capabilities necessary to access far-infrared line emission, PAH features and dust polarization with sensitivities necessary to understand how the evolution of dust and metals through cosmic times has led to the environments we observe in today’s galaxies.

 

457.13. PRIMA: PRIMAger, a Hyperspectral and Polarimetric Instrument

1 to 2 p.m. CST, Hall B-1 & B-2

Margaret Meixner, Jet Propulsion Laboratory; Denis Burgarella, Laboratoire D'Astrophysique de Marseille; Laure Ciesla, Laboratoire D'Astrophysique de Marseille; Marc Sauvage, CEA/Saclay; Eric Prieto, Laboratoire D'Astrophysique de Marseille; Willem Jellema, SRON; Jochem Baselmans, SRON Netherlands Institute for Space Research; Jason Glenn, NASA GSFC; Charles Bradford, Jet Propulsion Laboratory; Alexandra Pope, University of Massachusetts, Amherst; Klaus Pontoppidan, Space Telescope Science Institute; Johannes Staguhn, Johns Hopkins University & NASA's GSFC; Lee Armus, Caltech/IPAC; Cara Battersby, Center for Astrophysics | Harvard & Smithsonian; Alberto Bolatto, University of Maryland, College Park; Brandon Hensley, Princeton University; Tiffany Kataria, Jet Propulsion Laboratory, California Institute of Technology; Elisabeth Mills, University of Kansas; Arielle Moullet, NRAO; John-David Smith, University of Toledo; Rachel Somerville, Flatiron Institute/Rutgers University; PRIMA Team.

PRIMA (The PRobe for-Infrared Mission for Astrophysics; PI: J. Glenn) is a concept for a far-IR observatory, developed in response to the Announcement of Opportunity (AO) for an Astrophysics Probe Explorer (APEX) issued by NASA in July 2023. PRIMA features a cryogenically cooled 1.8 m diameter telescope and is designed to carry two science instruments enabling ultra-high sensitivity imaging and spectroscopic studies in the 24 to 264 μm wavelength range. The resulting observatory is a powerful survey and discovery machine, with mapping speeds better by 2–4 orders of magnitude with respect to its far-IR predecessors. The APEX AO specifies that the bulk of the observing time should be made available to the community through a Guest Observer (GO) program offering no less than 70% of the mission time over 5 years, resulting in twice as many hours as Herschel for General Observer science. In this presentation we describe PRIMAger (PI: Denis Burgarella) that will provide to the observers a coverage of mid-infrared to far-infrared wavelengths from about 25 to 260 micrometer. Imaging can be obtained with 12 medium-band filters (R ~ 10) covering the wavelength ranges from 25 to 80 micrometer, and 4 broad-band filters (R = 4) with polarimetric capabilities, covering the wavelength ranges from 80 to 260 micrometer. PRIMAger's science will allow to study the evolution of small dust grains over a wide range of redshift, assess the effect of the magnetic field in various environments, and open a vast discovery space with its versatile imaging capability.

PRIMAger is presently studied through a collaboration between the Laboratoire d'Astrophysique de Marseille (LAM) with the Centre National d'Etudes Spatiales (CNES), the Department d'Astrophysique of CEA/IRFU, the Netherlands Institute for Space Reseach (SRON) European, and the Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL).

457.11. FIRESS: Unlocking Sensitive Far-IR Spectroscopy with PRIMA

1 to 2 p.m. CST, Hall B-1 & B-2

Charles Bradford, Jet Propulsion Laboratory; Jochem Baselmans, SRON Netherlands Institute for Space Research; Lee Armus, Caltech/IPAC; Cara Battersby, Center for Astrophysics | Harvard & Smithsonian; Alberto Bolatto, University of Maryland, College Park; Denis Burgarella, Laboratoire D'Astrophysique de Marseille; Laure Ciesla, Laboratoire d'Astrophysique de Marseille; Jason Glenn, NASA GSFC; Carlotta Gruppioni, INAF; Brandon Hensley, Jet Propulsion Laboratory; Willem Jellema, SRON; Tiffany Kataria, Jet Propulsion Laboratory, California Institute of Technology; Alan Kogut, NASA Goddard Space Flight Center; Margaret Meixner, Jet Propulsion Laboratory; Elisabeth Mills, University of Kansas; Arielle Moullet, NRAO; Klaus Pontoppidan, Jet Propulsion Laboratory; Alexandra Pope, University of Massachusetts, Amherst; Marc Sauvage, CEA; John-David Smith, University of Toledo; Rachel Somerville, Flatiron Institute/Rutgers University; Johannes Staguhn, Johns Hopkins University & NASA's GSFC; PRIMA team.

PRIMA (The PRobe for-Infrared Mission for Astrophysics; PI: J. Glenn) is a concept for a far-IR observatory, developed in response to the Announcement of Opportunity (AO) for an Astrophysics Probe Explorer (APEX) issued by NASA in July 2023. PRIMA features a cryogenically cooled 1.8 m diameter telescope and is designed to carry two science instruments enabling ultra-high sensitivity imaging and spectroscopic studies in the 24 to 264 μm wavelength range. The resulting observatory is a powerful survey and discovery machine, with mapping speeds better by 2–4 orders of magnitude with respect to its far-IR predecessors. The APEX AO specifies that the bulk of the observing time should be made available to the community through a Guest Observer (GO) program offering no less than 70% of the mission time over 5 years, resulting in twice as many hours as Herschel for General Observer science. PRIMA is exciting because it will, for the first time, offer spectroscopy at the fundamental limits in the far-IR band. Here we focus on PRIMA’s far-IR enhanced survey spectrometer (FIRESS). FIRESS uses four long-slit grating spectrometer modules to cover the full 24 to 235 micron waveband at a resolving power greater than 100. Kinetic inductance detector (KID) arrays provide sensitivity close approaching the natural astrophysical backgrounds. The long slits combined with a steering mirror support pointed observations and a range of mapping modes suitable for programs ranging from deep extragalactic fields reaching across cosmic time, to sensitive mapping of low-surface brightness cosmic ecosystems in nearby galaxies and the Milky Way. For detailed study of targets of interest, FIRESS also employs a Fourier-transform module (FTM) which is engaged to process the incident light as it prior to its detection in the grating modules. The FTM mode also covers the full FIRESS band, and boosts the resolving power to more than 4,000 at 112 microns. The FTS enabling detection of the 112-micron HD rotational fundamental, as well as the full spectrum of water vapor in protoplanetary disks.

Hyperwall Talks

Monday, January 8

The Euclid Space Mission: Mapping the Extragalactic Sky

5:45 p.m. CST, Exhibit Hall

Presented by Shoubaneh Hemmati (Caltech/IPAC-ENSCI)