Giuseppe Donatiello

Italian amateur astronomer, astrophotographer, discoverer of nearby galaxies.

Giuseppe Donatiello (born 14 December 1967) is an Italian amateur astronomer. He is primarily known as the discoverer of eleven nearby dwarf galaxies in the Local Volume^[1][2].

Contributions

• He discovered in 2016 a dwarf galaxy about 10 million light years away in the constellation of Andromeda called Donatiello I^[3]. This is the first galaxy to be named after its non-professional discoverer^[4][5].
• In 2020, he discovered the ultrafaint dwarf galaxy named Pisces VII/Triangulum III^[6][7] which turned out to be a strong satellite candidate of the dwarf spiral galaxy Messier 33^[8][9]. Pisces VII is the first Local Group galaxy to be discovered by a non-professional astronomer^[10][11].

Donatiello II dwarf galaxy imaged by the Hubble Space Telescope.

• Also in 2021, the discovery of three new satellites of the spiral galaxy NGC 253 was announced^[12]. These three new dwarf galaxies were named Donatiello II, III and IV^[13]. All were later observed and confirmed as satellites of NGC 253 by the Hubble Space Telescope^{[14][15][16][17]}.
• In 2022, he discovered a very faint dwarf satellite galaxy of M31 which was named Pegasus V/Andromeda XXXIV^[18]. This object turned out to be particularly ancient and could be a fossil of the first star formation^[19][20].
• In 2024, the discovery of five more satellite galaxies of the NGC 253 galaxy was announced. The new objects were named Donatiello V, VI, VII, VIII and IX^[21][22]

To these discoveries must be added some candidate planetary nebulae^[23] and the participation in the discovery and analysis of several dozen stellar streams^[24][25]

He is the principal investigator and coordinator of the National Deep Sky Research Section of the Italian Amateur Astronomers Union^[26]

References

1. Robert Lea (2024-05-22). "Amateur astronomer finds 5 fascinating new galaxies — and they're now named after him". Space.com. Retrieved 2024-06-01.
2. Enthusiast, Space (2024-06-28). "Interview With Giuseppe Donatiello: Amateur Astronomer Who Discovers New Galaxies". Orbital Today. Retrieved 2024-07-13.
3. Martínez-Delgado, David; Grebel, Eva K.; Javanmardi, Behnam; Boschin, Walter; Longeard, Nicolas; Carballo-Bello, Julio A.; Makarov, Dmitry; Beasley, Michael A.; Donatiello, Giuseppe; Haynes, Martha P.; Forbes, Duncan A.; Romanowsky, Aaron J. (2018-12-01). "Mirach's Goblin: Discovery of a dwarf spheroidal galaxy behind the Andromeda galaxy". Astronomy & Astrophysics. 620: A126. arXiv:1810.04741. Bibcode:2018A&A...620A.126M. doi:10.1051/0004-6361/201833302. ISSN 0004-6361.
4. Parisini, Stefano (2018-10-25). "Galassia nana scoperta da un astrofilo". MEDIA INAF (in Italian). Retrieved 2024-07-13.
5. "An amateur astronomer has discovered a nearby galaxy!". SYFY Official Site. 2019-03-03. Retrieved 2024-07-13.
6. Martínez-Delgado, David; Karim, Noushin; Charles, Emily J E; Boschin, Walter; Monelli, Matteo; Collins, Michelle L M; Donatiello, Giuseppe; Alfaro, Emilio J (2021-10-05). "Pisces VII: discovery of a possible satellite of Messier 33 in the DESI legacy imaging surveys". Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society. 509 (1): 16–24. arXiv:2104.03859. Bibcode:2022MNRAS.509...16M. doi:10.1093/mnras/stab2797. ISSN 0035-8711.
7. "Astronomical object found by amateur identified as new dwarf galaxy | University of Surrey". www.surrey.ac.uk. Retrieved 2024-07-13.
8. Collins, Michelle L M.; Karim, Noushin; Martinez-Delgado, David; Monelli, Matteo; Tollerud, Erik J.; Donatiello, Giuseppe; Navabi, Mahdieh; Charles, Emily; Boschin, Walter (2024). "Pisces VII/Triangulum III – M33's second dwarf satellite galaxy". Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society. 528 (2): 2614–2620. arXiv:2305.13966. doi:10.1093/mnras/stae199. Retrieved 2024-06-01.
9. "Pisces VII, la seconda galassia nana satellite di M33 - Cosmo2050" (in Italian). 2024-02-01. Retrieved 2024-07-13.
10. Lea, Robert (2021-11-19). "Amateur Astronomer Discovers New Dwarf Galaxy 3 Million Light Years Away". Newsweek. Retrieved 2024-07-13.
11. "Pisces VII is an ultra-faint dwarf galaxy whose discovery could be important in cosmological studies". 2021-11-21. Retrieved 2024-07-13.
12. Martínez-Delgado, David; Makarov, Dmitry; Javanmardi, Behnam; Pawlowski, Marcel S.; Makarova, Lidia; Donatiello, Giuseppe; Lang, Dustin; Román, Javier; Vivas, Kathy; Carballo-Bello, Julio A. (2021-08-01). "Tracing satellite planes in the Sculptor group - I. Discovery of three faint dwarf galaxies around NGC 253". Astronomy & Astrophysics. 652: A48. arXiv:2106.08868. Bibcode:2021A&A...652A..48M. doi:10.1051/0004-6361/202141242. ISSN 0004-6361.
13. "Recently Discovered Dwarf Galaxy Donatiello II". www.noirlab.edu. Retrieved 2024-07-13.
14. Mutlu-Pakdil, Burçin; Sand, David J.; Crnojević, Denija; Jones, Michael G.; Caldwell, Nelson; Guhathakurta, Puragra; Seth, Anil C.; Simon, Joshua D.; Spekkens, Kristine; Strader, Jay; Toloba, Elisa (February 2022). "Hubble Space Telescope Observations of NGC 253 Dwarf Satellites: Three Ultra-faint Dwarf Galaxies*". The Astrophysical Journal. 926 (1): 77. arXiv:2108.09312. Bibcode:2022ApJ...926...77M. doi:10.3847/1538-4357/ac4418. ISSN 0004-637X.
15. Mutlu-Pakdil, Burçin; Sand, David J.; Crnojević, Denija; Bennet, Paul; Jones, Michael G.; Spekkens, Kristine; Karunakaran, Ananthan; Zaritsky, Dennis; Caldwell, Nelson; Fielder, Catherine E.; Guhathakurta, Puragra; Seth, Anil C.; Simon, Joshua D.; Strader, Jay; Toloba, Elisa (2024-05-01). "The Faint Satellite System of NGC 253: Insights into Low-density Environments and No Satellite Plane*". The Astrophysical Journal. 966 (2): 188. arXiv:2401.14457. Bibcode:2024ApJ...966..188M. doi:10.3847/1538-4357/ad36c4. ISSN 0004-637X.
16. "Can You Spot It?". www.spacetelescope.org. Retrieved 2024-07-13.
17. Mills, Kelly-Ann (2023-02-13). "Amateur astronomer spots new galaxy so faint even NASA scientists missed it". The Mirror. Retrieved 2024-07-13.
18. Collins, Michelle L M.; Charles, Emily J E.; Martínez-Delgado, David; Monelli, Matteo; Karim, Noushin; Donatiello, Giuseppe; Tollerud, Erik J.; Boschin, Walter (2022). "Pegasus V/Andromeda XXXIV–a newly discovered ultrafaint dwarf galaxy on the outskirts of Andromeda". Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society: Letters. 515 (1): L72–L77. arXiv:2204.09068. Bibcode:2022MNRAS.515L..72C. doi:10.1093/mnrasl/slac063. Retrieved 2024-06-01.
19. Carter, Jamie. "Amateur Astronomer Discovers New 'Fossil' Of First Galaxies". Forbes. Retrieved 2024-07-13.
20. Fiasconaro, Giuseppe (2022-07-01). "Pegasus V, un fossile nell'universo". MEDIA INAF (in Italian). Retrieved 2024-07-13.
21. Martinez-Delgado, David; Stein, Michael; Pawlowski, Marcel S.; Makarov, Dmitry; Makarova, Lidia; Donatiello, Giuseppe; Lang, Dustin (2024-05-06), Tracing satellite planes in the Sculptor group: II. Discovery of five faint dwarf galaxies in the DESI Legacy Survey, arXiv:2405.03769
22. Young, Chris. "An amateur astronomer had galaxies named after him. Here's how". Interesting Engineering. Retrieved 2024-07-13.
23. "Planetary Nebulae". planetarynebulae.net. Retrieved 2024-06-01.
24. Martínez-Delgado, David; Cooper, Andrew P.; Román, Javier; Pillepich, Annalisa; Erkal, Denis; Pearson, Sarah; Moustakas, John; Laporte, Chervin F. P.; Laine, Seppo; Akhlaghi, Mohammad; Lang, Dustin; Makarov, Dmitry; Borlaff, Alejandro S.; Donatiello, Giuseppe; Pearson, William J. (2023-03-01). "Hidden depths in the local Universe: The Stellar Stream Legacy Survey". Astronomy & Astrophysics. 671: A141. arXiv:2104.06071. Bibcode:2023A&A...671A.141M. doi:10.1051/0004-6361/202245011. ISSN 0004-6361.
25. Miró-Carretero, Juan; Martínez-Delgado, David; Farràs-Aloy, Sílvia; Gómez-Flechoso, Maria A.; Cooper, Andrew; Roca-Fàbrega, Santi; Kuijken, Konrad; Akhlaghi, Mohammad; Donatiello, Giuseppe (2023-01-01). "A search for stellar tidal streams around Milky Way analogues from the SAGA sample". Astronomy & Astrophysics. 669: L13. arXiv:2209.08636. Bibcode:2023A&A...669L..13M. doi:10.1051/0004-6361/202245003. ISSN 0004-6361.
26. "Nasce il nuovo Programma di Ricerca "Profondo Cielo" dell'UAI – Unione Astrofili Italiani – APS" (in Italian). Retrieved 2024-06-01.