Galaxy Zoo: Quantitative Visual Morphological Classifications for 48,000 galaxies from CANDELS

B. D. Simmons; Chris Lintott; Kyle W. Willett; Karen L. Masters; Jeyhan S. Kartaltepe; Boris Häußler; Sugata Kaviraj; Coleman Krawczyk; S. J. Kruk; Daniel H. McIntosh; R. J. Smethurst; Robert C. Nichol; Claudia Scarlata; Kevin Schawinski; Christopher J. Conselice; Omar Almaini; Henry C. Ferguson; Lucy Fortson; William Hartley; Dale Kocevski; Anton M. Koekemoer; Alice Mortlock; Jeffrey A. Newman; Steven P. Bamford; N. A. Grogin; Ray A. Lucas; Nimish P. Hathi; Elizabeth McGrath; Michael Peth; Janine Pforr; Zachary Rizer; Stijn Wuyts; Guillermo Barro; Eric F. Bell; Marco Castellano; Tomas Dahlen; Avishai Dekel Jamie Ownsworth; Sandra M. Faber; Steven L. Finkelstein; Adriano Fontana; Audrey Galametz; Ruth Grützbauch; David Koo; Jennifer Lotz; Bahram Mobasher; Mark Mozena; Mara Salvato; Tommy Wiklind

doi:10.1093/mnras/stw2587

Galaxy Zoo: Quantitative Visual Morphological Classifications for 48,000 galaxies from CANDELS

B. D. Simmons, Chris Lintott, Kyle W. Willett, Karen L. Masters, Jeyhan S. Kartaltepe, Boris Häußler, Sugata Kaviraj, Coleman Krawczyk, S. J. Kruk, Daniel H. McIntosh, R. J. Smethurst, Robert C. Nichol, Claudia Scarlata, Kevin Schawinski, Christopher J. Conselice, Omar Almaini, Henry C. Ferguson, Lucy Fortson, William Hartley, Dale KocevskiAnton M. Koekemoer, Alice Mortlock, Jeffrey A. Newman, Steven P. Bamford, N. A. Grogin, Ray A. Lucas, Nimish P. Hathi, Elizabeth McGrath, Michael Peth, Janine Pforr, Zachary Rizer, Stijn Wuyts, Guillermo Barro, Eric F. Bell, Marco Castellano, Tomas Dahlen, Avishai Dekel Jamie Ownsworth, Sandra M. Faber, Steven L. Finkelstein, Adriano Fontana, Audrey Galametz, Ruth Grützbauch, David Koo, Jennifer Lotz, Bahram Mobasher, Mark Mozena, Mara Salvato, Tommy Wiklind

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Abstract

We present quantified visual morphologies of approximately 48,000 galaxies observed in three Hubble Space Telescope legacy fields by the Cosmic And Near-infrared Deep Extragalactic Legacy Survey (CANDELS) and classified by participants in the Galaxy Zoo project. 90% of galaxies have z 6 3 and are observed in rest-frame optical wavelengths by CANDELS. Each galaxy received an average of 40 independent classifi- cations, which we combine into detailed morphological information on galaxy features such as clumpiness, bar instabilities, spiral structure, and merger and tidal signatures.
We apply a consensus-based classifier weighting method that preserves classifier independence while effectively down-weighting significantly outlying classifications. After analysing the effect of varying image depth on reported classifications, we also provide depth-corrected classifications which both preserve the information in the deepest observations
and also enable the use of classifications at comparable depths across the
full survey. Comparing the Galaxy Zoo classifications to previous classifications of the same galaxies shows very good agreement; for some applications the high number of independent classifications provided by Galaxy Zoo provides an advantage in selecting galaxies with a particular morphological profile, while in others the combination of Galaxy Zoo with other classifications is a more promising approach than using any one method alone. We combine the Galaxy Zoo classifications of “smooth” galaxies with parametric morphologies to select a sample of featureless disks at 1 6 z 6 3, which may represent a dynamically warmer progenitor population to the settled disk galaxies seen at later epochs.

Original language	English
Pages (from-to)	4420-4447
Number of pages	28
Journal	Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society (MNRAS)
Volume	464
Issue number	4
Early online date	18 Oct 2016
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1093/mnras/stw2587
Publication status	Published - 1 Feb 2017

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astro-ph.GA

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Simmons, B. D., Lintott, C., Willett, K. W., Masters, K. L., Kartaltepe, J. S., Häußler, B., Kaviraj, S., Krawczyk, C., Kruk, S. J., McIntosh, D. H., Smethurst, R. J., Nichol, R. C., Scarlata, C., Schawinski, K., Conselice, C. J., Almaini, O., Ferguson, H. C., Fortson, L., Hartley, W., ... Wiklind, T. (2017). Galaxy Zoo: Quantitative Visual Morphological Classifications for 48,000 galaxies from CANDELS. Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society (MNRAS), 464(4), 4420-4447. https://doi.org/10.1093/mnras/stw2587

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title = "Galaxy Zoo: Quantitative Visual Morphological Classifications for 48,000 galaxies from CANDELS",

abstract = "We present quantified visual morphologies of approximately 48,000 galaxies observed in three Hubble Space Telescope legacy fields by the Cosmic And Near-infrared Deep Extragalactic Legacy Survey (CANDELS) and classified by participants in the Galaxy Zoo project. 90% of galaxies have z 6 3 and are observed in rest-frame optical wavelengths by CANDELS. Each galaxy received an average of 40 independent classifi- cations, which we combine into detailed morphological information on galaxy features such as clumpiness, bar instabilities, spiral structure, and merger and tidal signatures.We apply a consensus-based classifier weighting method that preserves classifier independence while effectively down-weighting significantly outlying classifications. After analysing the effect of varying image depth on reported classifications, we also provide depth-corrected classifications which both preserve the information in the deepest observationsand also enable the use of classifications at comparable depths across thefull survey. Comparing the Galaxy Zoo classifications to previous classifications of the same galaxies shows very good agreement; for some applications the high number of independent classifications provided by Galaxy Zoo provides an advantage in selecting galaxies with a particular morphological profile, while in others the combination of Galaxy Zoo with other classifications is a more promising approach than using any one method alone. We combine the Galaxy Zoo classifications of “smooth” galaxies with parametric morphologies to select a sample of featureless disks at 1 6 z 6 3, which may represent a dynamically warmer progenitor population to the settled disk galaxies seen at later epochs.",

keywords = "astro-ph.GA",

author = "Simmons, {B. D.} and Chris Lintott and Willett, {Kyle W.} and Masters, {Karen L.} and Kartaltepe, {Jeyhan S.} and Boris H{\"a}u{\ss}ler and Sugata Kaviraj and Coleman Krawczyk and Kruk, {S. J.} and McIntosh, {Daniel H.} and Smethurst, {R. J.} and Nichol, {Robert C.} and Claudia Scarlata and Kevin Schawinski and Conselice, {Christopher J.} and Omar Almaini and Ferguson, {Henry C.} and Lucy Fortson and William Hartley and Dale Kocevski and Koekemoer, {Anton M.} and Alice Mortlock and Newman, {Jeffrey A.} and Bamford, {Steven P.} and Grogin, {N. A.} and Lucas, {Ray A.} and Hathi, {Nimish P.} and Elizabeth McGrath and Michael Peth and Janine Pforr and Zachary Rizer and Stijn Wuyts and Guillermo Barro and Bell, {Eric F.} and Marco Castellano and Tomas Dahlen and Ownsworth, {Avishai Dekel Jamie} and Faber, {Sandra M.} and Finkelstein, {Steven L.} and Adriano Fontana and Audrey Galametz and Ruth Gr{\"u}tzbauch and David Koo and Jennifer Lotz and Bahram Mobasher and Mark Mozena and Mara Salvato and Tommy Wiklind",

note = "This article has been accepted for publication in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the Royal Astronomical Society. {\textcopyright} : 2016 The Authors. Galaxy classifications available at data.galaxyzoo.org.",

year = "2017",

month = feb,

day = "1",

doi = "10.1093/mnras/stw2587",

language = "English",

volume = "464",

pages = "4420--4447",

journal = "Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society (MNRAS)",

issn = "0035-8711",

publisher = "Oxford University Press (OUP)",

number = "4",

}

Simmons, BD, Lintott, C, Willett, KW, Masters, KL, Kartaltepe, JS, Häußler, B, Kaviraj, S, Krawczyk, C, Kruk, SJ, McIntosh, DH, Smethurst, RJ, Nichol, RC, Scarlata, C, Schawinski, K, Conselice, CJ, Almaini, O, Ferguson, HC, Fortson, L, Hartley, W, Kocevski, D, Koekemoer, AM, Mortlock, A, Newman, JA, Bamford, SP, Grogin, NA, Lucas, RA, Hathi, NP, McGrath, E, Peth, M, Pforr, J, Rizer, Z, Wuyts, S, Barro, G, Bell, EF, Castellano, M, Dahlen, T, Ownsworth, ADJ, Faber, SM, Finkelstein, SL, Fontana, A, Galametz, A, Grützbauch, R, Koo, D, Lotz, J, Mobasher, B, Mozena, M, Salvato, M & Wiklind, T 2017, 'Galaxy Zoo: Quantitative Visual Morphological Classifications for 48,000 galaxies from CANDELS', Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society (MNRAS), vol. 464, no. 4, pp. 4420-4447. https://doi.org/10.1093/mnras/stw2587

TY - JOUR

T1 - Galaxy Zoo: Quantitative Visual Morphological Classifications for 48,000 galaxies from CANDELS

AU - Simmons, B. D.

AU - Lintott, Chris

AU - Willett, Kyle W.

AU - Masters, Karen L.

AU - Kartaltepe, Jeyhan S.

AU - Häußler, Boris

AU - Kaviraj, Sugata

AU - Krawczyk, Coleman

AU - Kruk, S. J.

AU - McIntosh, Daniel H.

AU - Smethurst, R. J.

AU - Nichol, Robert C.

AU - Scarlata, Claudia

AU - Schawinski, Kevin

AU - Conselice, Christopher J.

AU - Almaini, Omar

AU - Ferguson, Henry C.

AU - Fortson, Lucy

AU - Hartley, William

AU - Kocevski, Dale

AU - Koekemoer, Anton M.

AU - Mortlock, Alice

AU - Newman, Jeffrey A.

AU - Bamford, Steven P.

AU - Grogin, N. A.

AU - Lucas, Ray A.

AU - Hathi, Nimish P.

AU - McGrath, Elizabeth

AU - Peth, Michael

AU - Pforr, Janine

AU - Rizer, Zachary

AU - Wuyts, Stijn

AU - Barro, Guillermo

AU - Bell, Eric F.

AU - Castellano, Marco

AU - Dahlen, Tomas

AU - Ownsworth, Avishai Dekel Jamie

AU - Faber, Sandra M.

AU - Finkelstein, Steven L.

AU - Fontana, Adriano

AU - Galametz, Audrey

AU - Grützbauch, Ruth

AU - Koo, David

AU - Lotz, Jennifer

AU - Mobasher, Bahram

AU - Mozena, Mark

AU - Salvato, Mara

AU - Wiklind, Tommy

N1 - This article has been accepted for publication in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the Royal Astronomical Society. © : 2016 The Authors. Galaxy classifications available at data.galaxyzoo.org.

PY - 2017/2/1

Y1 - 2017/2/1

N2 - We present quantified visual morphologies of approximately 48,000 galaxies observed in three Hubble Space Telescope legacy fields by the Cosmic And Near-infrared Deep Extragalactic Legacy Survey (CANDELS) and classified by participants in the Galaxy Zoo project. 90% of galaxies have z 6 3 and are observed in rest-frame optical wavelengths by CANDELS. Each galaxy received an average of 40 independent classifi- cations, which we combine into detailed morphological information on galaxy features such as clumpiness, bar instabilities, spiral structure, and merger and tidal signatures.We apply a consensus-based classifier weighting method that preserves classifier independence while effectively down-weighting significantly outlying classifications. After analysing the effect of varying image depth on reported classifications, we also provide depth-corrected classifications which both preserve the information in the deepest observationsand also enable the use of classifications at comparable depths across thefull survey. Comparing the Galaxy Zoo classifications to previous classifications of the same galaxies shows very good agreement; for some applications the high number of independent classifications provided by Galaxy Zoo provides an advantage in selecting galaxies with a particular morphological profile, while in others the combination of Galaxy Zoo with other classifications is a more promising approach than using any one method alone. We combine the Galaxy Zoo classifications of “smooth” galaxies with parametric morphologies to select a sample of featureless disks at 1 6 z 6 3, which may represent a dynamically warmer progenitor population to the settled disk galaxies seen at later epochs.

AB - We present quantified visual morphologies of approximately 48,000 galaxies observed in three Hubble Space Telescope legacy fields by the Cosmic And Near-infrared Deep Extragalactic Legacy Survey (CANDELS) and classified by participants in the Galaxy Zoo project. 90% of galaxies have z 6 3 and are observed in rest-frame optical wavelengths by CANDELS. Each galaxy received an average of 40 independent classifi- cations, which we combine into detailed morphological information on galaxy features such as clumpiness, bar instabilities, spiral structure, and merger and tidal signatures.We apply a consensus-based classifier weighting method that preserves classifier independence while effectively down-weighting significantly outlying classifications. After analysing the effect of varying image depth on reported classifications, we also provide depth-corrected classifications which both preserve the information in the deepest observationsand also enable the use of classifications at comparable depths across thefull survey. Comparing the Galaxy Zoo classifications to previous classifications of the same galaxies shows very good agreement; for some applications the high number of independent classifications provided by Galaxy Zoo provides an advantage in selecting galaxies with a particular morphological profile, while in others the combination of Galaxy Zoo with other classifications is a more promising approach than using any one method alone. We combine the Galaxy Zoo classifications of “smooth” galaxies with parametric morphologies to select a sample of featureless disks at 1 6 z 6 3, which may represent a dynamically warmer progenitor population to the settled disk galaxies seen at later epochs.

KW - astro-ph.GA

U2 - 10.1093/mnras/stw2587

DO - 10.1093/mnras/stw2587

M3 - Article

SN - 0035-8711

VL - 464

SP - 4420

EP - 4447

JO - Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society (MNRAS)

JF - Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society (MNRAS)

IS - 4

ER -

Galaxy Zoo: Quantitative Visual Morphological Classifications for 48,000 galaxies from CANDELS

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