Rubin: Blobs and Blurs

What are extreme galaxies, and where did they come from? Questions like these are what Rubin: Blobs and Blurs hopes to answer. We are particularly interested in two types of extreme galaxies: blue blobs and diffuse galaxies. However, we cannot answer these questions properly yet because there are not enough known examples of these objects. Furthermore, their unique appearances and faintness make them difficult for computer algorithms to identify accurately. This is where you come in! Using images from the Vera C. Rubin Observatory’s Data Preview 2, we need your help to examine the M49 region of the Virgo Cluster and discover more of these mysterious “blobs and blurs.” This project continues the work started in the Blobs and Blurs project, applying the same research goals and methods to new observations from the Vera C. Rubin Observatory’s Data Preview 2.