University of Tasmania
Browse

Radio Galaxy Zoo: host galaxies and radio morphologies derived from visual inspection

Download (13.55 MB)
journal contribution
posted on 2023-05-18, 12:33 authored by Banfield, JK, Wong, OI, Willett, KW, Norris, RP, Rudnick, L, Stanislav ShabalaStanislav Shabala, Simmons, BD, Snyder, C, Garon, A, Seymour, N, Middelberg, E, Andernach, H, Lintott, CJ, Jacob, K, Kapinska, AD, Mao, MY, Masters, KL, Jarvis, MJ, Schawinski, K, Paget, E, Simpson, R, Klockner, H-R, Bamford, S, Burchell, T, Chow, KE, Cotter, G, Fortson, L, Heywood, I, Jones, TW, Kaviraj, S, Lopez-Sanchez, AR, Maksym, WP, Polsterer, K, Borden, K, Hollow, RP, Whyte, L
We present results from the first 12 months of operation of Radio Galaxy Zoo, which upon completion will enable visual inspection of over 170000 radio sources to determine the host galaxy of the radio emission and the radio morphology. Radio Galaxy Zoo uses 1.4 GHz radio images from both the Faint Images of the Radio Sky at Twenty Centimeters (FIRST) and the Australia Telescope Large Area Survey (ATLAS) in combination with mid-infrared images at 3.4 um from the Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer (WISE) and at 3.6 um from the Spitzer Space Telescope. We present the early analysis of the WISE mid-infrared colours of the host galaxies. For images in which there is >75 per cent consensus among the Radio Galaxy Zoo cross-identifications, the project participants are as effective as the science experts at identifying the host galaxies. The majority of the identified host galaxies reside in the mid-infrared colour space dominated by elliptical galaxies, quasi-stellar objects and luminous infrared radio galaxies. We also find a distinct population of Radio Galaxy Zoo host galaxies residing in a redder mid-infrared colour space consisting of star-forming galaxies and/or dust-enhanced non-star-forming galaxies consistent with a scenario of merger-driven active galactic nuclei (AGN) formation. The completion of the full Radio Galaxy Zoo project will measure the relative populations of these hosts as a function of radio morphology and power while providing an avenue for the identification of rare and extreme radio structures. Currently, we are investigating candidates for radio galaxies with extreme morphologies, such as giant radio galaxies, late-type host galaxies with extended radio emission and hybrid morphology radio sources.

Funding

Australian Research Council

History

Publication title

Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society

Volume

453

Pagination

2326-2340

ISSN

0035-8711

Department/School

School of Natural Sciences

Publisher

Blackwell Publishing Ltd

Place of publication

9600 Garsington Rd, Oxford, England, Oxon, Ox4 2Dg

Rights statement

Copyright 2015 The Authors. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the Royal Astronomical Society. All rights reserved.

Repository Status

  • Open

Socio-economic Objectives

Expanding knowledge in the physical sciences

Usage metrics

    University Of Tasmania

    Exports

    RefWorks
    BibTeX
    Ref. manager
    Endnote
    DataCite
    NLM
    DC