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Galaxy Zoo: morphological classifications for 120,000 galaxies in HST legacy imaging

  • Kyle W. Willett
  • , Melanie A. Galloway
  • , Steven P. Bamford
  • , Chris J. Lintott
  • , Karen L. Masters
  • , Claudia Scarlata
  • , B. D. Simmons
  • , Melanie Beck
  • , Carolin N. Cardamone
  • , Edmond Cheung
  • , Edward M. Edmondson
  • , Lucy F. Fortson
  • , Roger L. Griffith
  • , Boris Haeussler
  • , Anna Han
  • , Ross Hart
  • , Thomas Melvin
  • , Michael Parrish
  • , Kevin Schawinski
  • , R. J. Smethurst
  • Arfon M. Smith

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

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Abstract

We present the data release paper for the Galaxy Zoo: Hubble (GZH) project. This is the third phase in a large effort to measure reliable, detailed morphologies of galaxies by using crowdsourced visual classifications of colour-composite images. Images in GZH were selected from various publicly released Hubble Space Telescope legacy programmes conducted with the Advanced Camera for Surveys, with filters that probe the rest-frame optical emission from galaxies out to z ∼ 1. The bulk of the sample is selected to have mI814W < 23.5, but goes as faint as mI814W < 26.8 for deep images combined over five epochs. The median redshift of the combined samples is 〈z〉 = 0.9 ± 0.6, with a tail extending out to z ≃ 4. The GZH morphological data include measurements of both bulge- and disc-dominated galaxies, details on spiral disc structure that relate to the Hubble type, bar identification, and numerous measurements of clump identification and geometry. This paper also describes a new method for calibrating morphologies for galaxies of different luminosities and at different redshifts by using artificially redshifted galaxy images as a baseline. The GZH catalogue contains both raw and calibrated morphological vote fractions for 119 849 galaxies, providing the largest data set to date suitable for large-scale studies of galaxy evolution out to z ∼ 1.
Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)4176-4203
Number of pages28
JournalMonthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Volume464
Issue number4
Early online date8 Oct 2016
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - Feb 2017

Keywords

  • astro-ph.GA
  • astro-ph.CO
  • methods: data analysis
  • catalogues
  • galaxies: evolution
  • galaxies: high-redshift
  • galaxies: structure
  • RCUK
  • STFC
  • ST/J500665/1
  • ST/K502236/1

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