Identify A Galaxy

[astroron]

Help Scientist by identifying a galaxy http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/6289474.stm

[Gargoyle_Steve]

Sounds great! Sadly the story doesn't seem to have a link to the project itself. I'll try and search for it later.

[ballaratdragons]

Here's the link to the Project:

http://www.galaxyzoo.org/

[ballaratdragons]

It's not actually up and running yet.

You can do the test to see if you are approved (I passed and am now approved) but the actual scientific identification section (the real work) isn't open yet. The site says it hopes to be operating by Wednesday U.S. time. So it may be operating tomorrow our time.

[Jarrod]

i logged on and passed the trial, but couldent get any further. alot of the buttons on the top of the screen don't work. the website seems to have alot of problems that need fixing. i'll be going back though, it'll be a great site once they get it properly running.

[ballaratdragons]

Yep, I'm looking forward to being a part of the research. Especially as I am a Galaxy Hunter anyway.

Yeah, the research page is full of errors at the moment, but we'll see how it goes later when it is actually launched. :)

[mill]

I passed too (very easy to pass).
The server has a runtime error at the moment :(

[DaveO]

Mmmmm..what a great idea. Passed the test and am looking forward to the site being live.

[astroron]

I passed the test and had the same problem, Ken thanks for finding the problem.

[ballaratdragons]

Gee thanks Ron, but I didn't find out the problem, Mill did :lol:

[astroron]

Ken this is why I thought you found the problem:thumbsup:

[ballaratdragons]

Ahhhh, ok Ron. Yeah I found a notice on the site saying it opens Wednesday. :thumbsup:

[Blue Skies]

Ah, so that's the problem - I signed on, got the error message and sent them an email. Oh well. It sure looks like fun, though - more exciting that stardust@home where I drop into from time to time and search a few frames for dust holes.

[ballaratdragons]

This is what is written on the site Homepage:

GZ is now live ahead of our offical launch on Wednesday. We're still tidying up the site but if you'd like to sign up to start classifying galaxies right away, click here.

According to that, it should already be working ahead of the Wednesday launch :shrug:

It ain't for me.

[Jarrod]

gee, that sound like fun. :lol:

[mill]

It is working now.

[okiscopey]

Yep, it's working. Passed the exam OK and went on to classify 30 or 40 images. The real images are a lot harder than the ones in the tests, mainly due to lack of resolution.

[Ingo]

Yes, very hard. Most are just little fuzzies.

[DaveO]

Yes, but it's a fascinating idea! And gets you trapped - there's always just one more!:help:

[ballaratdragons]

Up to about 30 so far. Some are a bit of a guess, but most are reasonably easy.

Some are just a mess like this Elliptical :lol:

[DaveO]

Yep, stopped counting, and unfortunately the stats and "my galaxies" links aren't active yet. But it is all a bit "zen" - don't think too hard, just react. Which is after all what I think they are after.

[ballaratdragons]

I have identified over 100 Galaxies so far, and among the blobs, streaks, mush and blurr, the occasional stunning images appear!

For example:

[astroron]

I think the three frames starting from the Top left are all elipticals and the bottom left are spirals:rofl: :rofl: :rofl:

[ballaratdragons]

You pass the entry test Ron :P :lol:

[mill]

Why do i get all the crappy ones? :P
Most are elliptical.

[DaveO]

I don't know about that! I seem to have been specialising in small fuzzy smudges myself! :lol:

[ballaratdragons]

I thought they were a load of fuzzy blob ellipticals too at first, but I found that if I sat way back from the monitor and squint a little bit, I see spiral structure in many of them, so that's how I've been doing it.

I have found approx 70% spirals (clock and anti), a few colliders, 2 side-ons, 1 star, and the rest are blobs.

As a Galaxy Hunter myself, I suppose I have already trained my eye to notice fine faint detail.

Good training for seeing Galaxies thru our Telescopes even better though :thumbsup:

[Ingo]

I personally like the ones that look like somebody took a picture out of focus of a airplane talking off, then put it in photoshop, zoomed in, print screened it, and kept saving it as JPG on 1% web quality for about 5 tries.

[ballaratdragons]

:rofl:

but you are doing science a service :thumbsup: :lol:

[gaa_ian]

Had a great view of the whirlpool galaxies last Sat, it is amazing the difference a 27 Panoptic will make !
For the first time I could see some structure in these awesome colliding galaxies !, 18" of mirror helps too !

[Blue Skies]

Hee hee! :D That's mostly what I also saw on my first time around. It did get a nice open barred spiral in one but mostly they are a bit...um...well...perhaps...yeah! :lol: I'll keep trying, though.

[monoxide]

mainly eliptical here, had a few magic images amongst them though.
should start a thread for the best galaxies youve seen amongst them since apparently 'noone has ever seen these before' :)
2 spiral galaxies merging in one i saw, wish i saved the picture

[CoombellKid]

Did you try averted vision :rofl: :rofl: :rofl:

regards,CS

[robagar]

here's a tricky one :) looks to me like a spiral in front of an elliptical, but which button..? :P

[ballaratdragons]

Call it a 'Collider' :thumbsup:

[Kal]

I just signed up and passed the test, will do some classifying over the weekend :)

[ispom]

I have classified a few hundred galaxies already,
galaxies never seen by anybody,
(or perhaps another participant in the “project galaxy zoo”:)

[sheeny]

Here is a release in today's news @ nature:

http://www.nature.com/news/2007/070709/full/070709-7.html

I hope you can get in to read it before the free access period expires.

Just to repost the link to galaxy.zoo:

http://www.galaxyzoo.org/

Al.

[CoombellKid]

For a minute there I thought you were implying they are going to start
charging volenteers to do the job on Galaxy Zoo

regards,CS

[CoombellKid]

Here's and interesting one....

regards,CS

[sheeny]

:lol: Sorry, no, I meant the free access period on nature...

Al.

[Gargoyle_Steve]

I decided to classify a few galaxies tonight to help me relax and get ready to sleep ... to my surprise and delight this one was presented to me.

This isn't a high quality pic, but it's good enough. I think this is one of the most beautiful galaxies I have ever seen, so I thought I'd share this with you.

[okiscopey]

Very nice!

How about these three .. what are they up to?

[Ric]

Hi all, I just signed up as well. I did the trial and much to my surprise scored 12 out of the 15.

I have to say some of those images are quite tricky little beggars.

Cheers

[ballaratdragons]

Well, I'm still going.

I've classified about 3000 galaxies so far!!!!!
Exciting stuff being among the first people to see them!

Here are some more of my favourites so far, put together in a collage.

[saraheaston]

wow great to be involved in something like this!
& even if most are tricky... there are some pretty ones like this one...

[ballaratdragons]

Yep Sarah,

I seemed to have gotten a lot that looked like Hoags Ring too. Can't put down whether they are 'clock' or 'anti', so I put them in as 'Side-on/Unknown' :thumbsup:

[Ric]

I've done about 50 now.

I was having a look at the stats section and the leaders are up to around 60,000 now :eyepop:. They must live there 24 hour a day. :lol:

Cheers