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Sangeeta Malhotra

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Sangeeta Malhotra

  • Rsch AST, Stlr Galctic&Xtrgltc Astr
  • 301.286.6955
  • NASA/GSFC
  • Mail Code: 661
  • Greenbelt , MD 20771
  • Employer: NASA

    • Current Projects

    Lyman alpha Galaxies at the Epoch of Reionzation (LAGER)

    This is a multinational collaboration to survey 20+ square degrees in narrow band filters to finc lyman-alpha galaxies at redshift of 7. The aim of this project is to determine the neutral fraction of inter-galactic medium at the epoch of reionization.

    Green Peas as local analogs of Lyman-alpha galaxies

    Green Pea galaxies are nearby galaxies with extremely strong emission lines in their optical spectra. They were named by citizen scientist volunteers in the Galaxy Zoo project, because they appear small, round, and green in color-composite Sloan Digital Sky Survey images. Their unusual color is because the optical emission lines are strong enough to dominate over starlight in their colors.

     Our research has shown that green peas are good nearby analogs of high redshift Lyman alpha galaxies. Their relative proximity allows detailed study of many properties that cannot be studied well at the distances of high-redshift Lyman alpha Green Pea galaxies are nearby galaxies with extremely strong emission lines in their optical spectra.  These include detailed studies of Lyman alpha line profiles, chemical abundances, and gas content.

    Cosmic Dawn studies with WFIRST

    WFIRST has the potential to make groundbreaking contributions in the study of Cosmic Dawn. We are making detailed investigations and simulations of WFIRST observations to find high redshift gaklaxies and quasars in the first billion light years of the universe. This is in collaboration with an international team.

    Positions/Employment

    2017 - Present

    Research Astrophysicist

    GSFC, GreenBelt, MD
    1/2006 - 12/2016

    Professor

    School of Earth and Space Exploration Arizona State University, Tempe, AZ
    2001 - 2006

    Astronomer

    Space Telescope Science Institute, Baltimore, MD
    1998 - 2001

    Hubble Fellow

    Johns Hopkins University National Optical Astronomy Observatory, Baltimore, MD Tucson, AZ
    1995 - 1998

    NRC fellow

    IPAC, Caltech. JPL, Pasadena, CA

    Education

    1995 PhD is Astrophysical Sciences, Princeton University

    1990 MSc in Physics, Indian Institute of Technology, Kanpur.

    1988 BSc (Honors) Physics, Delhi University.

    Professional Societies

    American Astronomical Society, 1993 - Present
    International Astronomical Union, 1993 - Present

    Teaching Experience

    Dr Malhotra was a professor at Arizona State University between 2006 and 2017.  She has mentored students and postdocs at all levels.

    Publications

    Refereed

    Xia, L., S. Malhotra, J. Rhoads, et al. N. Pirzkal, Z. Zheng, G. Meurer, A. N. Straughn, N. Grogin, and D. Floyd. 2011. "Spectroscopic Study of the HST/ACS PEARS Emission-line Galaxies." Astronomical Journal, 141 (64): [Full Text (Link)]

    Straughn, A. N., H. Kuntschner, M. Kuemmel, et al. J. Walsh, S. Cohen, J. P. Gardner, R. Windhorst, R. OConnell, N. Pirzkal, G. Meurer, P. Mccarthy, N. Hathi, S. Malhotra, J. Rhoads, B. Balick, H. Bond, D. Calzetti, M. Disney, M. Dopita, J. Frogel, D. Hall, J. Holtzman, R. A. Kimble, M. Mutchler, F. Paresce, A. Saha, J. Silk, J. Trauger, A. Walker, B. Whitmore, E. Young, and C. Xu. 2011. "HST WFC3 Early Release Science: Emission–Line Galaxies from Infrared Grism Observations." Astronomical Journal, 141 (14): [Full Text (Link)]

    Rhoads, J. E., S. Malhotra, N. Pirzkal, et al. M. Dickinson, S. Cohen, N. Grogin, N. Hathi, C. Xu, I. Ferreras, C. Gronwall, A. Koekemoer, M. Kümmel, G. Meurer, N. Panagia, A. Pasquali, R. Ryan, A. Straughn, J. Walsh, R. A. Windhorst, and H.-J. Yan. 2009. "Spectroscopic Confirmation of Faint Lyman Break Galaxies Near Redshift Five in The Hubble Ultra Deep Field." The Astrophysical Journal, 697 (1): 942-949 [10.1088/0004-637x/697/1/942]

    Straughn, A. N., N. Pirzkal, G. R. Meurer, et al. S. H. Cohen, R. A. Windhorst, S. Malhotra, J. Rhoads, J. P. Gardner, N. P. Hathi, R. A. Jansen, N. Grogin, N. Panagia, S. di Serego Alighieri, C. Gronwall, J. Walsh, A. Pasquali, and C. Xu. 2009. "Emission-Line Galaxies from the Hubble Space Telescope Probing Evolution and Reionization Spectroscopically (PEARS) Grism Survey. I. The South Fields." The Astronomical Journal, 138 (4): 1022-1031 [Full Text (Link)] [10.1088/0004-6256/138/4/1022]

    Straughn, A. N., G. R. Meurer, N. Pirzkal, et al. S. H. Cohen, S. Malhotra, J. Rhoads, R. A. Windhorst, J. P. Gardner, N. P. Hathi, C. Xu, C. Gronwall, A. M. Koekemoer, J. Walsh, and S. D. Alighieri. 2008. "Emission-Line Galaxies from the PEARS Hubble Ultra Deep Field: A 2-D Detection Method and First Results." The Astronomical Journal, 135 (4): 1624-1635 [10.1088/0004-6256/135/4/1624]

    Rhoads, J. E., N. Panagia, R. A. Windhorst, et al. S. Malhotra, N. Pirzkal, C. Xu, L. G. Strolger, L. E. Bergeron, E. Daddi, H. Ferguson, J. P. Gardner, C. Gronwall, Z. Haiman, A. Koekemoer, M. Kümmel, L. A. Moustakas, A. Pasquali, A. Riess, S. di Serego Alighieri, M. Stiavelli, Z. Tsvetanov, J. Vernet, J. Walsh, and H. Yan. 2005. "A Redshift z ~ 54 Lyα Emitting Galaxy with Linear Morphology in the GRAPES/Hubble Ultra Deep Field." The Astrophysical Journal, 621: 582 [Full Text (Link)] [10.1086/427622]

    Pirzkal, N., C. Xu, S. Malhotra, et al. J. E. Rhoads, A. M. Koekemoer, L. A. Moustakas, J. R. Walsh, R. A. Windhorst, E. Daddi, A. Cimatti, H. C. Ferguson, J. P. Gardner, C. Gronwall, Z. Haiman, M. Kümmel, N. Panagia, A. Pasquali, M. Stiavelli, S. di Serego Alighieri, Z. Tsvetanov, J. Vernet, and H. Yan. 2004. "GRAPES, Grism Spectroscopy of the Hubble Ultra Deep Field: Description and Data Reduction." The Astrophysical Journal Supplement Series, 154: 501 [Full Text (Link)] [10.1086/422582]

    Non-Refereed

    Bennett, D. P., R. Akeson, J. Anderson, et al. L. Armus, E. Bachelet, V. Bailey, T. Barclay, R. Barry, J.-P. Beaulieu, A. Belini, D. J. Benford, A. Bhattacharya, P. Boyd, V. Bozza, S. Calchi Novati, K. Carpenter, A. Cassan, D. Ciardi, A. Cole, K. Colon, C. Coutures, M. Dominik, P. Fouque, K. Grady, T. Groff, C. B. Henderson, K. Horne, C. Gelino, D. Gelino, J. Kalirai, S. Kane, N. J. Kasdin, J. Kruk, S. Laine, M. Lambrechts, L. Mancini, A. Mand ell, S. Malhotra, S. Mao, M. McElwain, B. Mennesson, T. Meshkat, L. Moustakas, J. A. Munoz, D. Nataf, R. Paladini, I. Pascucci, M. Penny, R. Poleski, E. Quintana, C. Ranc, N. Rattenbury, J. Rhodes, J. D. Rhodes, M. Rizzo, A. Roberge, L. Rogers, K. C. Sahu, J. Schlieder, S. Seager, Y. Shvartzvald, R. Soummer, D. Spergel, K. G. Stassun, R. Street, T. Sumi, D. Suzuki, J. Trauger, R. van der Marel, B. F. Williams, E. J. Wollack, J. Yee, A. Yonehara, and N. Zimmerman. 2018. "The WFIRST Exoplanet Microlensing Survey." arXiv e-prints arXiv:1803.08564.

    Spergel, D. N., J. Kasdin, R. Belikov, et al. P. Atcheson, M. Beasley, D. Calzetti, B. Cameron, C. Copi, S. Desch, A. Dressler, D. Ebbets, R. Egerman, A. Fullerton, J. Gallagher, J. Green, O. Guyon, S. Heap, R. Jansen, E. Jenkins, J. Kasting, R. Keski-Kuha, M. Kuchner, R. Lee, D. Lindler, R. Linfield, D. Lisman, R. Lyon, S. Malhotra, G. Mathews, M. McCaughrean, J. Mentzel, M. Mountain, S. NIkzad, R. O'Connell, S. Oey, D. Padgett, B. Parvin, J. Procashka, W. Reeve, I. N. Reid, J. Rhoads, A. Roberge, B. Saif, P. Scowen, S. Seager, O. Seigmund, K. Sembach, S. Shaklan, M. Shull, and R. Soummer. 2009. "THEIA: Telescope for Habitable Exoplanets and Interstellar/Intergalactic Astronomy." American Astronomical Society, AAS Meeting #213, #45804; Bulletin of the American Astronomical Society, Vol 41, p362 213: 362 [Full Text (Link)]

    Publications

    Refereed

    Xia, L., S. Malhotra, J. Rhoads, et al. N. Pirzkal, Z. Zheng, G. Meurer, A. N. Straughn, N. Grogin, and D. Floyd. 2011. "Spectroscopic Study of the HST/ACS PEARS Emission-line Galaxies." Astronomical Journal 141 (64): [Full Text (Link)]

    Straughn, A. N., H. Kuntschner, M. Kuemmel, et al. J. Walsh, S. Cohen, J. P. Gardner, R. Windhorst, R. OConnell, N. Pirzkal, G. Meurer, P. Mccarthy, N. Hathi, S. Malhotra, J. Rhoads, B. Balick, H. Bond, D. Calzetti, M. Disney, M. Dopita, J. Frogel, D. Hall, J. Holtzman, R. A. Kimble, M. Mutchler, F. Paresce, A. Saha, J. Silk, J. Trauger, A. Walker, B. Whitmore, E. Young, and C. Xu. 2011. "HST WFC3 Early Release Science: Emission–Line Galaxies from Infrared Grism Observations." Astronomical Journal 141 (14): [Full Text (Link)]

    Rhoads, J. E., S. Malhotra, N. Pirzkal, et al. M. Dickinson, S. Cohen, N. Grogin, N. Hathi, C. Xu, I. Ferreras, C. Gronwall, A. Koekemoer, M. Kümmel, G. Meurer, N. Panagia, A. Pasquali, R. Ryan, A. Straughn, J. Walsh, R. A. Windhorst, and H.-J. Yan. 2009. "Spectroscopic Confirmation of Faint Lyman Break Galaxies Near Redshift Five in The Hubble Ultra Deep Field." The Astrophysical Journal 697 (1): 942-949 [10.1088/0004-637x/697/1/942]

    Straughn, A. N., N. Pirzkal, G. R. Meurer, et al. S. H. Cohen, R. A. Windhorst, S. Malhotra, J. Rhoads, J. P. Gardner, N. P. Hathi, R. A. Jansen, N. Grogin, N. Panagia, S. di Serego Alighieri, C. Gronwall, J. Walsh, A. Pasquali, and C. Xu. 2009. "Emission-Line Galaxies from the Hubble Space Telescope Probing Evolution and Reionization Spectroscopically (PEARS) Grism Survey. I. The South Fields." The Astronomical Journal 138 (4): 1022-1031 [Full Text (Link)] [10.1088/0004-6256/138/4/1022]

    Straughn, A. N., G. R. Meurer, N. Pirzkal, et al. S. H. Cohen, S. Malhotra, J. Rhoads, R. A. Windhorst, J. P. Gardner, N. P. Hathi, C. Xu, C. Gronwall, A. M. Koekemoer, J. Walsh, and S. D. Alighieri. 2008. "Emission-Line Galaxies from the PEARS Hubble Ultra Deep Field: A 2-D Detection Method and First Results." The Astronomical Journal 135 (4): 1624-1635 [10.1088/0004-6256/135/4/1624]

    Rhoads, J. E., N. Panagia, R. A. Windhorst, et al. S. Malhotra, N. Pirzkal, C. Xu, L. G. Strolger, L. E. Bergeron, E. Daddi, H. Ferguson, J. P. Gardner, C. Gronwall, Z. Haiman, A. Koekemoer, M. Kümmel, L. A. Moustakas, A. Pasquali, A. Riess, S. di Serego Alighieri, M. Stiavelli, Z. Tsvetanov, J. Vernet, J. Walsh, and H. Yan. 2005. "A Redshift z ~ 54 Lyα Emitting Galaxy with Linear Morphology in the GRAPES/Hubble Ultra Deep Field." The Astrophysical Journal 621 582 [Full Text (Link)] [10.1086/427622]

    Pirzkal, N., C. Xu, S. Malhotra, et al. J. E. Rhoads, A. M. Koekemoer, L. A. Moustakas, J. R. Walsh, R. A. Windhorst, E. Daddi, A. Cimatti, H. C. Ferguson, J. P. Gardner, C. Gronwall, Z. Haiman, M. Kümmel, N. Panagia, A. Pasquali, M. Stiavelli, S. di Serego Alighieri, Z. Tsvetanov, J. Vernet, and H. Yan. 2004. "GRAPES, Grism Spectroscopy of the Hubble Ultra Deep Field: Description and Data Reduction." The Astrophysical Journal Supplement Series 154 501 [Full Text (Link)] [10.1086/422582]

    Non-Refereed

    Bennett, D. P., R. Akeson, J. Anderson, et al. L. Armus, E. Bachelet, V. Bailey, T. Barclay, R. Barry, J.-P. Beaulieu, A. Belini, D. J. Benford, A. Bhattacharya, P. Boyd, V. Bozza, S. Calchi Novati, K. Carpenter, A. Cassan, D. Ciardi, A. Cole, K. Colon, C. Coutures, M. Dominik, P. Fouque, K. Grady, T. Groff, C. B. Henderson, K. Horne, C. Gelino, D. Gelino, J. Kalirai, S. Kane, N. J. Kasdin, J. Kruk, S. Laine, M. Lambrechts, L. Mancini, A. Mand ell, S. Malhotra, S. Mao, M. McElwain, B. Mennesson, T. Meshkat, L. Moustakas, J. A. Munoz, D. Nataf, R. Paladini, I. Pascucci, M. Penny, R. Poleski, E. Quintana, C. Ranc, N. Rattenbury, J. Rhodes, J. D. Rhodes, M. Rizzo, A. Roberge, L. Rogers, K. C. Sahu, J. Schlieder, S. Seager, Y. Shvartzvald, R. Soummer, D. Spergel, K. G. Stassun, R. Street, T. Sumi, D. Suzuki, J. Trauger, R. van der Marel, B. F. Williams, E. J. Wollack, J. Yee, A. Yonehara, and N. Zimmerman. 2018. "The WFIRST Exoplanet Microlensing Survey." arXiv e-prints arXiv:1803.08564

    Spergel, D. N., J. Kasdin, R. Belikov, et al. P. Atcheson, M. Beasley, D. Calzetti, B. Cameron, C. Copi, S. Desch, A. Dressler, D. Ebbets, R. Egerman, A. Fullerton, J. Gallagher, J. Green, O. Guyon, S. Heap, R. Jansen, E. Jenkins, J. Kasting, R. Keski-Kuha, M. Kuchner, R. Lee, D. Lindler, R. Linfield, D. Lisman, R. Lyon, S. Malhotra, G. Mathews, M. McCaughrean, J. Mentzel, M. Mountain, S. NIkzad, R. O'Connell, S. Oey, D. Padgett, B. Parvin, J. Procashka, W. Reeve, I. N. Reid, J. Rhoads, A. Roberge, B. Saif, P. Scowen, S. Seager, O. Seigmund, K. Sembach, S. Shaklan, M. Shull, and R. Soummer. 2009. "THEIA: Telescope for Habitable Exoplanets and Interstellar/Intergalactic Astronomy." American Astronomical Society, AAS Meeting #213, #45804; Bulletin of the American Astronomical Society, Vol 41, p362 213 362 [Full Text (Link)]

                                                                                                                                                                                            
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    • Last Updated: 03/24/2023