Session H03: Dark Matter & Galaxies: The Legacy of Vera Rubin

A Bright Vision for Dark Matter

Dark matter orchestrates the expansion of the universe and the development of the cosmic web of structure, yet its identity is unknown. We know that dark matter molds luminous matter into galaxies, yet the microphysical processes that govern its own creation and evolution remain a mystery. Despite its cosmic importance, the nature of dark matter remains one of the biggest unsolved problems in fundamental physics. However, it is one that may be solved with the tools of astronomy. In this talk, I will show how astronomical observations, building on the pioneering work of Vera Rubin, have shaped our understanding of the microphysical properties of dark matter. I will discuss the exciting prospects for a new generation of astronomical facilities to enable measurements of dark matter physics.   

Personal reflections on Vera Rubin and her science

Vera Rubin, with Kent Ford's innovative image-tube spectrograph, showed that stars do not rotate around the centers of galaxies the way they were expected to. Their pioneering observations demonstrated the extistence of an unseen component of matter in galaxies and this initiated a worldwide effort to understand a universe with dark matter. Our view of the universe today is drastically different as a result. Vera was also a trailblazer and tireless advocate of women in astronomy. She was the first woman to observe at Palomar Observatory under her own name, and twenty years later, when she was observing on Las Campanas, she saw a night when all of the observers on the mountain were women. I will talk about Vera as a scientist and as a person, her remarkable career and the characteristics that made her a quiet revolutionary.