Abstract

I present the citizen science project Redshift Wrangler, designed to use the contributions of volunteers to analyze large samples of galaxy data and build a repository of spectroscopic measurements for various analyses. When we know how to read it, the spectrum of a galaxy can tell the story of its stellar population, distance, and interactions with any close companion galaxies. Through Redshift Wrangler, citizen science measurements become our main tool for extracting information from enormous quantities of collected spectra. Several main goals motivate this work: first, designing and launching Redshift Wrangler on citizen science platform Zooniverse to bring more people motivated by curiosity or the desire to be involved in research into our scientific process. Second, I determine redshifts from user measurements of key features in the spectra to compare them with existing values, checking the quality of our program and improving our methods as we go. Finally, by confirming fits to the emission and absorption lines and using those fits to estimate line fluxes, I will be able to constrain physical properties like star formation rate, metallicity, and AGN content of galaxies. Our initial results are based on measurements taken during the beta testing phase of Redshift Wrangler, complemented by initial outcomes from the first post-launch month. Redshift Wrangler engages volunteers irrespective of their prior expertise to contribute to analyzing the immense datasets beyond the capacity of individual research teams or individuals. This method can lower uncertainties from human error, as we allow for more human eyes on measurements that we cannot yet automate, and we can also work to include a broader segment of the public in scientific discourse.

Library of Congress Subject Headings

Red shift--Measurement; Extragalactic distances; Spectrum analysis; Crowdsourcing

Publication Date

10-11-2023

Document Type

Thesis

Student Type

Graduate

Degree Name

Astrophysical Sciences and Technology (MS)

Department, Program, or Center

Physics and Astronomy, School of

College

College of Science

Advisor

Jeyhan Kartaltepe

Advisor/Committee Member

Andrew Robinson

Advisor/Committee Member

Joel Kastner

Campus

RIT – Main Campus

Plan Codes

ASTP-MS

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