The first publication of this project has been accepted. Please check out the published article in PASA.
Research
Welcome to the Overlapping Galaxy project! We need your help identifying overlapping galaxies that will be useful for future dust studies!
What are overlapping galaxies?
Overlapping galaxies, also known as occulting galaxies, are pairs of galaxies that overlap with each other. These overlaps are extremely useful for dust studies as the background galaxy provides a bright backlight that illuminates all of the dust in the foreground galaxy. This is especially useful if the foreground galaxy is a spiral galaxy!
Image Credits: NASA/JWST/Hubble
What are the different types of overlapping galaxies?
Overlapping galaxies also come in many shapes and sizes. They can be Spiral-Spiral, Spiral-Elliptical, or Elliptical-Elliptical overlaps. The ones we are looking for in particular are a Spiral (foreground) and Elliptical (background), as this type is the best for dust studies. Below are examples of the different types.
Image Credits: Keel et al. 2013/SDSS
How does your classification help?
As mentioned previously, overlapping galaxies are essential for dust studies. With your help, we can classify these overlapping galaxies and provide future researchers with optimal subjects to untangle the mysterious dust in galaxies.
Acknowledgements
This project is supported by the images provided by the DESI Legacy Survey and as well as the Python module legacystamps publicly provided by Dr. Frits Sweijen.