Skip to content.

The Carnegie Observatories

Contributing to basic research in astronomy since 1904, as a part of the Carnegie Institution of Washington

HOME

ABOUT US

• News

• History

• Personnel/Contact Us

• Employment

• Education & Events

• Support Carnegie Astronomy


RESEARCH

• Overview

• Scientific Staff

• Fellows & Associates

• Fellowship Program

• Colloquia, Lunch Talks, & Morning Tea

• Publications & Library Services


LAS CAMPANAS OBSERVATORY

• Information for Observers

• Telescope Schedules

• Proposal Submission (Internal)

• Software Repository


TELESCOPES & INSTRUMENTS

• Giant Magellan Telescope (24.5m)

• Magellan Telescopes (6.5m)

• du Pont Telescope (2.5m)

• Swope Telescope (1.0m)

• Active & Future Instruments


OCIW WEB

• Internal Pages

• Web Mail Server

• Anonymous FTP Server

• Login


 

News

Dr. Andreas Koch, a joint postdoctoral researcher at the Carnegie Observatories and UCLA, has been chosen the recipient of the prestigious 2008 Ludwig Biermann Award from Germany's Astronomische Gesellschaft for his outstanding work on chemical evolution in nearby dwarf spheroidal galaxies.




This image from a supercomputer simulation displays dark matter satellites as bright clumps. The central region corresponds to the luminous matter (gas and stars) of the Milky Way. (Stelios Kazantzidis/Stanford University)


'Dwarf spheroidals' is a term describing the low-luminosity galaxies that are companions to our own Milky Way and neighboring Andromeda Galaxy (M31). Dwarf speroidals contain many metal-poor stars and, indeed, seem to have been stripped of most luminous matter. As a result, current research indicates that these ghostly galaxies are composed almost entirely of dark matter.

The Ludwig Biermann Award was established in 1988 by the Astronomische Gesellschaft to be awarded in recognition of outstanding young astronomers. The award includes financing for a visiting research position at an institution of the recipient's choice.

Dr. Koch delivered the Biermann Award Lecture at the JENAM 2008 (Joint European and National Astronomy Meeting) in Vienna, Austria. His previous prizes include the Camille & Henry Dreyfus Award from the University of Basel and the EU Marie Curie Visiting Fellowship at the Institute of Astronomy in Cambridge, UK.