The Smallest and Faintest Galaxies: Clues to the Nature of Dark Matter and Galaxy Formation

Date

Friday September 12, 2025
1:30 pm - 2:30 pm

Location

STI A
Event Category

Burcin Mutlu-Pakdi
Dartmouth College

 

Abstract

 

The smallest and faintest galaxies around the Milky Way are the most ancient, most metal-poor, and most dark-matter-dominated systems known. These extreme objects offer unique access to small scales where the stellar and dark matter content can be studied simultaneously. They hold the promise of major breakthroughs in understanding the nature of dark matter and a more complete picture of galaxy formation. Thus, their discovery and characterization are among the most important goals in the field. In this talk, I will share our ongoing observational efforts to detect these faint systems around the Milky Way and beyond, and upcoming advances in the era of deep and wide imaging instrumentation, with a focus on their implications.

Timbits, coffee, tea will be served in STI A before the colloquium.