Deborah Lokhorst

The cosmic web: In the current cosmological theoretical model of the universe, the cosmic web is a foam-like structure of dark matter that dictates where structures made from "normal" matter, such as planets and stars, will form. Gas is theorized to flow along the filaments of the web, like extragalactic highways between galaxies. The Dragonfly Spectral Line Mapper is designed to “take a picture” of the cosmic web by directly imaging the ultra-faint emission from the gas flowing along the web. 

Galaxy evolution and formation: One of the main mysteries of galaxy evolution is how gas (the majority of which is outside of galaxies and trapped in the "cosmic web") gets into galaxies to fuel star formation and sustain galaxy growth. This is a difficult question to answer due to the near invisibility of gas outside of galaxies, and one the Dragonfly Spectral Line Mapper aims to directly address.

Ultra-low surface brightness imaging: The Dragonfly Telephoto Array is specially designed to carry out astronomical observations of large and faint structures in the universe. Dragonfly has discovered a new class of faint, diffuse galaxies and is currently carrying out an imaging campaign to map the northern hemisphere (matching the footprint of the SDSS) and detect low surface brightness objects to unprecedented levels.