Daniella Roberts Research

Research

Bellow are brief summaries of the projects I have worked on through out my time as a graduate student.

Satellite Luminosity Function of Low-Mass Host Galaxies in the COSMOS survey

I performed the first study of satellite systems of host galaxies with stellar masses between 9.5 < log(M∗/M⊙) < 10.5 across half the age of the universe, and statistically found satellites with stellar masses equivalent to the Fornax dwarf spheroidal satellite of the Milky Way. I also observed that the satellite populations for these hosts remain mostly unchanged through time, and a weak dependence between host stellar mass and satellite abundance per host. Additionally, I was able to demonstrate how my measured cumulative satellite luminosity function is able to constrain the low-mass end of the ΛCDM predicted stellar mass-halo mass relation (M∗–Mhalo).

Identifying Faint Satellite Galaxies of Low-Mass hosts in the Local Volume

With this project I studied low-surface- brightness galaxies in the Local Volume using the DES Year 3 LSBG catalog. I specifically targeted low-mass host galaxies (e.g. Large Magellanic Cloud to Milky Way-mass) in the IMAGINE radio survey, a program that mapped out the HI environment in and around 28 nearby spiral galaxies in the Southern Hemisphere. Using visual and statistical techniques, I proposed a list of high-quality satellite candidates around these hosts, making these ideal candidates for follow-up studies. I also provided upper limits on the HI gas richness of these high-quality satellite candidates, along with a handful of potential globular cluster candidates after performing an optical search.