Data Mining the Galaxy Zoo Mergers

Collisions between pairs of galaxies usually end in the coalescence (merger) of the two galaxies. Collisions and mergers are rare phenomena, yet they may signal the ultimate fate of most galaxies, including our own Milky Way. With the onset of massive collection of astronomical data, a computerized and automated method will be necessary for identifying those colliding galaxies worthy of more detailed study. This project researches methods to accomplish that goal. Astronomical data from the Sloan Digital Sky Survey (SDSS) and human-provided classifications on merger status from the Galaxy Zoo project are combined and processed with machine learning algorithms. The goal is to determine indicators of merger status based solely on discovering those automated pipeline-generated attributes in the astronomical database that correlate most strongly with the patterns identified through visual inspection by the Galaxy Zoo volunteers. In the end, we aim to provide a new and improved automated procedure for classification of collisions and mergers in future petascale astronomical sky surveys. Both information gain analysis (via the C4.5 decision tree algorithm) and cluster analysis (via the Davies-Bouldin Index) are explored as techniques for finding the strongest correlations between human-identified patterns and existing database attributes. Galaxy attributes measured in the SDSS green waveband images are found to represent the most influential of the attributes for correct classification of collisions and mergers. Only a nominal information gain is noted in this research, however, there is a clear indication of which attributes contribute so that a direction for further study is apparent.