Mapping diffuse gas with the prototype Dragonfly filter tilter array

The Dragonfly project consists of a new technique to image gas surrounding galaxies. Galaxies similar to the Milky Way will be observed so as to better understand this "circumgalactic medium". To do this, the Dragonfly instrument will be upgraded with a new user interface and remote control.

This user interface and remote control lend themselves very well to classroom teaching and demonstrations. Up to 10% of the time on Dragonfly will be devoted to projects proposed by high school students. Dragonfly data and imagery will be used to create a short program developed with the Leitner Planetarium, connecting the public to the night sky and emphasizing dark sky preservation efforts.

The principal investigator has developed a new technique to image the distribution of ionized gas in the universe with unprecedented sensitivity, building on the concept of a distributed-aperture telescope. His team uses a tiltable ultra-narrow interference filter in front of the entrance pupil of a telescope, creating a tunable filter with very high sensitivity and no degradation of the bandpass.

The immediate goal of the project is to develop the prototype, through a program of calibrations, hardware refinements, and software development. More broadly, the aim is to lay the groundwork for future studies of the circumgalactic medium with upgraded arrays. This facility will be able to directly reveal the ionized gas distributions in which galaxies are embedded, providing the ionizing flux as well as key physical information on metallicities, shocks, and bulk velocities.

This program will provide end-to-end training and learning environment for graduate students, who will gain invaluable experience in instrument design, optics, detectors, computer control, data analysis, “big data” aspects, as well as training in the science.

This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.