Published in IAU Colloquium No. 171: "The Low Surface Brightness Universe", ed.: Jon Davies, University of Wales Cardiff, 1999

For a PDF version of the article, click here.

Abstract. Despite progress on many fronts in cosmology, outstanding questions remain. What is the nature of the dark matter? Is the inflationary big bang model viable? Must we accept a non-zero cosmological constant? Do we know the true population of galaxies? What is the range of star formation histories in the universe? Can gravity alone explain the large scale structure we observe? Studies of the low surface brightness universe may provide the answers to many of these questions.

KEY WORDS: cosmology, low surface brightness galaxies, ignorance

Table of Contents

• INTRODUCTION
• WHAT WE DON'T KNOW ABOUT STARS
• WHAT WE DON'T KNOW ABOUT GAS
• WHAT WE DON'T KNOW ABOUT DARK MATTER
• BRIGHT ICEBERGS
• DIM ICEBERGS
• DARK ICEBERGS
• WHAT WE DON'T KNOW ABOUT THE UNIVERSE
• REFERENCES