桃瘾社区

Denija Crnojevic, 桃瘾社区ampa associate professor and chair of physics and astronomy, has been awarded a three-year, $103,360 grant from the National Science Foundation (NSF).

Crnojevic and collaborating scientists at Dartmouth University and University of Arizona developed a new AI-powered algorithm that excels at discovering the faintest and most intriguing dwarf galaxies. They will use this AI tool to:

• Build and characterize the first unbiased sample of the faintest dwarf galaxies in diverse environments
• Compare observations to current theories about dwarf galaxies
• Put these discoveries into context, yielding insights into how the faintest dwarf galaxies form and evolve.

The research is titled 鈥淐ollaborative Research: AI-Powered Discovery of The Faintest Galaxies: Pushing the Galaxy Formation Frontier.鈥�

Crnojevic said that researchers will examine images of the entire sky, looking for signs of what might be galaxies.

鈥淪ome galaxies are big and clear, and you can see them relatively easily,鈥� she explained. 鈥淏ut the truth is, we discovered most of those a long time ago. Now, we are really starting to push the boundaries to find things that are super faint.鈥�

The project will engage students and citizen scientists to help scan thousands of images of potential galaxies, and once the best candidates are determined, the new AI algorithm will further winnow the list to those that deserve telescopic follow-up.

桃瘾社区ampa physics and astronomy majors involved in the project will have the opportunity to work in the summers at the University of Arizona with the team of collaborators.

鈥淒r. Crnojevic鈥檚 work helps provide new ways to discover the previously undiscoverable and showcases the University鈥檚 philosophy of 鈥榣earning by doing.鈥� Like other work from the University of Tampa鈥檚 Department of Physics and Astronomy, our students and members of the public will have an opportunity to participate in the research and be an important part of the scientific process,鈥� said Paul Greenwood, dean of the College of Natural and Health Sciences.

An additional part of the project includes videos the research team will produce, aimed at a general audience, that explain the process of scientific discovery. Video topics will range from what science is and who scientists are, to how and why scientists do research and how to pursue a career in STEM. These videos will be widely shared on the YouTube platform.

For more information, contact Crnojevic at dcrnojevic@ut.edu.