Amateur astronomer spots dwarf galaxy that computers missed

By Georgina Torbet Published February 12, 2023

As machine learning approaches get more and more sophisticated, they are increasingly used in astronomy for difficult tasks like spotting dim and distant galaxy clusters. It can be tremendously helpful to have computers search through astronomical data to look for particular objects as they can process a huge amount of data — however, there are some judgments that still require the human touch.

This week’s image from the Hubble Space Telescope shows an object that was spotted by a human even after it had been missed by a computer algorithm. The dwarf galaxy Donatiello II is very faint and hard to pick out from the background behind it, but an amateur astronomer was able to point it out.

Right in the middle of this image taken with the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope, nestled among a smattering of distant stars and even more distant galaxies, lies the newly discovered dwarf galaxy known as Donatiello II. If you can’t quite discern Donatiello II’s clump of faint stars in this image, then you are in good company. Donatiello II is one of three newly discovered galaxies. All three were missed by an algorithm designed to search astronomical data for potential galaxy candidates. Even the best algorithms have their limitations when it comes to distinguishing very faint galaxies from individual stars and background noise. In such challenging situations, identification must be done the old-fashioned way – by a dedicated human trawling through the data themselves. — Right in the middle of this image, nestled among a smattering of distant stars and even more distant galaxies, lies the newly discovered dwarf galaxy known as Donatiello II. ESA/Hubble & NASA, B. Mutlu-Pakdil; Acknowledgment: G. Donatiello

“Even the best algorithms have their limitations when it comes to distinguishing very faint galaxies from individual stars and background noise,” Hubble scientists write. “In such challenging situations, identification must be done the old-fashioned way – by a dedicated human trawling through the data themselves.”

Recommended Videos

The dwarf galaxy is located in the center of this image and was identified by Giuseppe Donatiello from data collected during the Dark Energy Survey. Along with two other similar dwarf galaxies named Donatiello III and IV, it orbits the Sculptor Galaxy. Once Donatiello spotted the trio in the Dark Energy Survey data, researchers used Hubble to confirm the discovery and take this image.

The Dark Energy Survey was a project that surveyed the sky from 2013 to 2019, looking at objects like galaxy clusters to understand more about dark energy. Though the survey is now complete, the data collected from the first three years of observations was released to the public in 2021 and is still leading to discoveries like this trio of dwarf galaxies.

Topics

Tech News

Georgina Torbet

Space Writer

Georgina has been the space writer at Digital Trends space writer for six years, covering human space exploration, planetary…

Space

James Webb photographs two potential exoplanets orbiting white dwarfs

Illustration of a cloudy exoplanet and a disk of debris orbiting a white dwarf star.

Even though scientists have now discovered more than 5,000 exoplanets, or planets outside our solar system, it's a rare thing that any telescope can take an image of one of these planets. That's because they are so small and dim compared to the stars that they orbit around that it's easier to detect their presence based on their effects on the star rather than them being detected directly.

However, thanks to its exceptional sensitivity, the James Webb Space Telescope was recently able to image two potential exoplanets orbiting around small, cold cores of dead stars called white dwarfs directly.

Space

Hubble spies baby stars being born amid chaos of interacting galaxies

Galaxy AM 1054-325 has been distorted into an S-shape from a normal pancake-like spiral shape by the gravitational pull of a neighboring galaxy, seen in this Hubble Space Telescope image. A consequence of this is that newborn clusters of stars form along a stretched-out tidal tail for thousands of light-years, resembling a string of pearls. They form when knots of gas gravitationally collapse to create about 1 million newborn stars per cluster.

When two galaxies collide, the results can be destructive, with one of the galaxies ending up ripped apart, but it can also be constructive too. In the swirling masses of gas and dust pulled around by the gravitational forces of interacting galaxies, there can be bursts of star formation, creating new generations of stars. The Hubble Space Telescope recently captured one such hotbed of star formation in galaxy AM 1054-325, which has been distorted into an unusual shape due to the gravitational tugging of a nearby galaxy.

Galaxy AM 1054-325 has been distorted into an S-shape from a normal pancake-like spiral shape by the gravitational pull of a neighboring galaxy, as seen in this Hubble Space Telescope image. A consequence of this is that newborn clusters of stars form along a stretched-out tidal tail for thousands of light-years, resembling a string of pearls. NASA, ESA, STScI, Jayanne English (University of Manitoba)

Space

Hear the otherworldly sounds of interacting galaxies with this Hubble sonification

This new NASA Hubble Space Telescope image showcases a resplendent pair of galaxies known as Arp 140.

When two different galaxies get close enough together that they begin interacting, they are sometimes given a shared name. That's the case with a newly released image from the Hubble Space Telescope that shows two galaxies, NGC 274 and NGC 275, which are together known as Arp 140. not only is there a new image of the pair, but there's also a sonification available so you can hear the image as well as see it.

This new NASA Hubble Space Telescope image showcases a resplendent pair of galaxies known as Arp 140. NASA/ESA/R. Foley (University of California - Santa Cruz)/Processing: Gladys Kober (NASA/Catholic University of America)