Classifying the Morphology of Shocked Post Starburst Galaxies

HUB 302-128

Shocked Post Starburst Galaxies, or SPOGs, are galaxies currently in transition from blue, starforming spirals to red, inactive ellipticals. These galaxies contain fairly young stars, but not new stars, despite having ample resources to continue star formation. Morphology, the qualitative description of these galaxies, is pivotal in examining their similarities and deciphering the role of SPOGs in the cosmic evolutionary paths of galaxies. A program meant to classify the 1067 SPOGs was built through the Zooniverse Project Builder. Zooniverse was created to classify and study different subjects, built with the notion that people lacking expertise in a subject can still contribute toward research as citizen scientists. Our project “Morphology of SPOGs” is meant to classify the physical characteristics of Shocked Post Starburst Galaxies, including (1) their shape as spiral, lenticular, elliptical, or irregular/asymmetrical; (2) the relative prominence of their nuclei; (3) the uniformity of their optical color; (4) whether the outskirts of the galaxy indicates on-going star formation; (5) whether they are engaged in interactions with other galaxies, and if so, (6) the kinds of galaxies with which they are interacting; and (7) the presence of asymmetrical features, possibly indicative of recent interactions. By classifying these 1067 galaxies in these 7 categories, we can divide SPOGs into different groups and determine whether other galaxy properties, such as their stellar mass and infrared and ultraviolet luminosity and color, dependent on particular aspects of their morphology. The presence or absence of such trends will provide insights into the nature of galaxies in transition.