Galaxy Zoo

Galaxy Zoo is a citizen-science project that asks volunteers to classify galaxies in astronomical images. Its aggregated classifications help researchers study galaxy shapes and discover unusual objects.

Galaxy morphology: Galaxy morphology is the study and classification of galaxies by their shapes and visible structures. The project turns visual judgments about galaxy morphology into a large research dataset.
Kevin Schawinski: Kevin Schawinski is an astrophysicist whose research includes galaxy evolution and citizen science. His difficulty classifying a large image set helped prompt Galaxy Zoo's creation.
Galaxy Zoo: Mergers: Galaxy Zoo: Mergers is a project that uses volunteer judgments to identify galaxies showing signs of interaction or merger. Volunteers flag distorted systems that can help researchers study galaxy encounters.
Automated galaxy classification: Automated galaxy classification uses computational methods to assign galaxy categories from astronomical data. It offers a machine-based alternative to the project's human visual judgments.
Galaxy Zoo classification scheme: The Galaxy Zoo classification scheme is a set of image-based questions that guides volunteers in describing galaxy features. Its branching questions translate each volunteer's visual inspection into structured responses.
Chris Lintott: Chris Lintott is an astronomer known for research and public engagement through citizen-science projects. He helped organize Galaxy Zoo and develop its scientific and public-facing work.
Green Pea galaxies: Green Pea galaxies are compact, intensely star-forming galaxies that appear green in certain survey images. Galaxy Zoo volunteers helped draw attention to these unusual objects.
Galaxy Zoo: Radio: Galaxy Zoo: Radio is a citizen-science project in which volunteers match radio-emission features to galaxies in optical images. It adapts the project's collaborative approach to interpreting radio astronomy data.
Crowdsourcing: Crowdsourcing is the practice of obtaining contributions to a task from a large group of people, usually through an online platform. Galaxy Zoo distributes image classification across many volunteers rather than relying on a small expert team.
Sloan Digital Sky Survey: The Sloan Digital Sky Survey is a major astronomical survey that mapped celestial objects and collected their spectra and images. Its galaxy images supplied the initial classification task for Galaxy Zoo.

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