The story of a dwarf
galaxy: I Zwicky 18
and what I learned
in the past 12 years

Speaker : Dorottya Szécsi

Abstract :

The metal-poor, irregular dwarf galaxy called I Zwicky 18 has been one of
my constant obsessions during my scientific career. The galaxy emits an
unprecedented amount of hard ionizing radiation together with certain « emission
features » in its spectrum. To explain this, a theorist like me has to put together a
complex hypothesis based on reliable computer models, and compare its predictions to
all available observations in the literature. Sounds easy, right? But what if she finds
that the observations themselves actually contradict each other? Then she has no
choice but go down the rabbit hole of learning how observational astronomers work,
speak, and think — a scientific challenge in itself. In this talk, I share my curious story
of the past 12 years tackling the case of I Zwicky 18, a journey which may or may not
be coming to an end this year.