[LINK] Galaxy Zoo

[stephen at melbpc.org.au]

Hi all,

 http://www.galaxyzoo.org

Welcome to Galaxy Zoo, where you can help astronomers explore the Universe

Galaxy Zoo uses gorgeous imagery of hundreds of thousands of galaxies 
drawn from NASA's Hubble Space Telescope archive. 

To understand how these galaxies, and our own, formed we need your help 
to classify them according to their shapes — a task at which your brain 
is better than even the most advanced computer. 

If you're quick, you may even be the first person in history to see each 
of the galaxies you're asked to classify.

More than 250,000 people have taken part in Galaxy Zoo so far, producing 
a wealth of valuable data and sending telescopes on Earth and in space 
chasing after their discoveries. 

To begin exploring, click the "How To Take Part" link ..

Thanks for your help, and happy classifying.

The Galaxy Zoo team.

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*How To Take Part*

Galaxy Zoo Tutorial
 
Your job is very simple! When classifying you will be shown an image of a 
galaxy and be asked a series of questions about it. All you need to do is 
to look for features that mark out different types of galaxy and answer 
the questions as well as you can. This is a job that humans are much 
better at than computers, so most of the questions should be fairly easy. 

If you find it hard to decide upon the answer to a particular question, 
don't worry! There often won't be a 'correct' answer. Just pick the one 
that seems best and move on to the next question. By looking at all the 
answers given for each galaxy the Galaxy Zoo scientists will be able to 
work out which is most likely to be the right one, and how sure we can be 
about it. Your individual opinion is extremely important to making that 
possible. 

Below is an explanation of each question, along with a selection of 
examples which you can use to learn and practice your classifying skills. 
You should try to understand why we have decided on the answers given for 
each example. Remember though, there isn't always a clearly correct 
answer, so don't worry if you occasionally find you would have answered 
differently. When you've read this tutorial and are feeling confident 
about your classifying abilities, then you'll be ready to contribute to 
Galaxy Zoo science! 

The questions you see for each galaxy will depend on your answers to the 
previous questions. We try to avoid asking questions which you can't 
answer. You can go back if you want to change your mind, but don't spend 
too much time worrying about any single question or galaxy. 

Q: Is the galaxy simply smooth and rounded, with no sign of a disk?
(Followed by a question explanation and typical examples ..)
Q: How rounded is it?
Q: Could this be a disk viewed edge-on?
Q: Does the galaxy have a bulge at its centre? If so, what shape?
Q: Is there any sign of a spiral arm pattern?
Q: How tightly wound do the spiral arms appear?
Q: How many spiral arms are there?
Q: Is there a sign of a bar feature through the centre of the galaxy?
Q: How prominent is the central bulge, compared with the rest of the 
galaxy?
Q: Is there anything odd?
Q: Does the galaxy have a mostly clumpy appearance?
Q: Does the galaxy appear symmetrical?
 
Happy hunting!

Aprajita & Phil

Well done for reading the tutorial. Click here to start classifying!

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Cheers,
Stephen