Fake Progress

I mean, it's real progress, but my fake dwarfs are progressing quite nicely.

Yesterday, I did some more IDL learning, and wrote functions generating star positions in fake galaxies that fit an exponential, circularly symmetric model. Today, I wrote a function converting these positions into x and y coordinates in terms of exponential scale lengths. Beth then gave me a little bit of contour-plot bootcamp, and she helped me produce this little number:

... nice, huh?

This afternoon, I worked on creating a function to convert these x and y coordinates in units of exponential scale lengths to angular size in units of arcmin, as well as plotting an isochrone of an old, metal poor galaxy, as provided to me by Mimi. As I write these functions, I'm also trying to keep track of my work through headers that explain what the function does and how to use it.

I've really been enjoying these simulations. A week ago, this blog post would have seemed like a foreign language. But now, I'm excited to work more and more on this project of creating these fake galaxies, mostly because I know where this work is heading. Soon enough, these fakes will be put in simulated fake backgrounds, so we can determine their detectability. And, ultimately, we'll determine how detectable dwarfs like these fakes would be in our own sky...

As a side note-- a special blog Thank You goes to Beth, who has been putting up with me in her office for long periods of time these past few days. I know she has a ton to work on, so I'm feeling pretty grateful that she takes so much time out of her day to help me. THANKS BETH!