Conference: Diffuse Cosmic Backgrounds and the Low Surface Brightness Universe

The "Diffuse Cosmic Backgrounds and the Low Surface Brightness Universe" conference will be held at the Aspen Center for Physics in April 2024. This grant will support the participation of primarily junior scientists on a need-based basis. The conference will focus on observations and theory of the cosmic background OIR light and how they connect to the populations of galaxies and low surface brightness structures over the history of the universe. The conference will address the following questions: (i) What is the history of light production in the universe, including all possible sources? (ii) What will large new facilities like JWST and Rubin teach us about this? (iii) What role do dwarf galaxies, low surface brightness objects, and the intra-halo light play in the baryon budget of the universe? (iv) What can we learn from low-cost ground-based instruments such as Dragonfly or Condor? This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.