Abstract
Galaxies can have a variety of shapes. These morphologies range from disk-dominated to elliptical and irregular appearances. Understanding galaxy morphology is crucial in order to address questions concerning the evolution and formation of galaxies and their dark matter content. However, determining galaxy morphology is a difficult task. While galaxies can be classified using automatic algorithms, the human classification by eye is more sensitive to fine structures such as spiral arms and galaxy interaction features. Unfortunately, galaxy catalogs are very big, making it a time consuming process to classify thousands of galaxies. In order to expedite this process, we developed a galaxy classification web-interface.
The interface allows human users to categorize galaxies into various fundamental types. The website is designed with HTML5, JavaScript, PHP, and a MySQL database. The users can create an account, then login and complete a survey of the galaxy types. Meanwhile, the administrator can modify the images being surveyed, view the account list, and view the distribution of collected answers. More advanced capabilities will be added to the system as the development continues.
This web-page is designed to be used in the classroom with students, such as NSU's Introduction to Astronomy courses, providing students hands-on research experience and training, and allows them to contribute to studies of galaxy morphology.
Faculty Sponsors
Dr. Stefan Kautsch, Dr. Michael Van Hilst
Project Type
Event
Location
Alvin Sherman Library
Start Date
4-4-2014 1:00 PM
End Date
4-4-2014 5:30 PM
A Web Interface for Visual Galaxy Classification
Alvin Sherman Library
Galaxies can have a variety of shapes. These morphologies range from disk-dominated to elliptical and irregular appearances. Understanding galaxy morphology is crucial in order to address questions concerning the evolution and formation of galaxies and their dark matter content. However, determining galaxy morphology is a difficult task. While galaxies can be classified using automatic algorithms, the human classification by eye is more sensitive to fine structures such as spiral arms and galaxy interaction features. Unfortunately, galaxy catalogs are very big, making it a time consuming process to classify thousands of galaxies. In order to expedite this process, we developed a galaxy classification web-interface.
The interface allows human users to categorize galaxies into various fundamental types. The website is designed with HTML5, JavaScript, PHP, and a MySQL database. The users can create an account, then login and complete a survey of the galaxy types. Meanwhile, the administrator can modify the images being surveyed, view the account list, and view the distribution of collected answers. More advanced capabilities will be added to the system as the development continues.
This web-page is designed to be used in the classroom with students, such as NSU's Introduction to Astronomy courses, providing students hands-on research experience and training, and allows them to contribute to studies of galaxy morphology.
