Researchers from the University of Pennsylvania have unveiled the largest catalog of galaxies to date —
Researchers used data from Dark EnergySurvey (DES), an international research program that aims to map one-eighth of the sky to better understand the role of dark energy in the accelerating expansion of the universe.
The "by-product" of this study isthat the DES data contains many more images of distant galaxies than other studies done to date. "DES images show us what galaxies looked like over 6 billion years ago," the scientists note.
Look at the heart of a spiral galaxy
To do this, the researchers first trained theira neural network model that can classify more pixelated images from a DES dataset. First, they created a training model with previously known morphological classifications, consisting of a set of 20 thousand galaxies that intersected between DES and SDSS (Sloan Digital Sky Survey). They then created versions of the new galaxies, mimicking what the images would look like if they were further away.
After the model has been prepared andtested on both simulated and real galaxies, applied to the DES dataset, and included information on the probability of an elliptical or spiral galaxy in the final catalog of 27 million galaxies. The researchers also found that their neural network was 97% accurate in classifying the morphology of galaxies, even if they were faintly luminous.
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