Researchers may have answered decades-old questions about galaxy evolution by harnessing the power of artificial intelligence (AI) to accelerate their research. Since the Hubble array, which classifies galaxy morphology, was invented in 1926, astronomers have improved our understanding of galaxy evolution and morphology as our technology has advanced.

By the 1970s, researchers had confirmed that while solitary galaxies tended to be spiral-shaped, galaxies found in galaxy clusters were likely smooth and were known as elliptical and lenticular (lenticular). Published in the magazine today Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society New research by astronomers at the International Research Center for Radio Astronomy (ICRAR) may have uncovered the reason for these differences in shapes.

Lead author Dr Joel Pfeffer, from the University of Western Australia’s ICRAR node, said the study explains the “morphology-density relationship” in which clustered galaxies appear softer and less pronounced than their individual counterparts.

Dr. “We found that when we put so many galaxies together, a few different things happen,” Pfeffer said.

“The spiral arms of galaxies are very fragile, and as they reach higher densities in galaxy clusters, spiral galaxies begin to lose gas. This loss of gas causes them to “shed” their spiral arms and transform them into a lenticular shape. Another reason is that two or more spiral galaxies form a large cluster of galaxies. galactic mergers that collide to form elliptical galaxies.” Credit: International Radio Astronomy Research Center

The study used powerful EAGLE simulations to analyze a group of galaxies in detail, using an AI algorithm to classify galaxies according to their shapes. Neural network based algorithm, ICRAR Ph.D. trained by. Mitchell Kavanagh, and can classify about 20,000 galaxies per minute, squeezing what would normally take weeks into an hour.

The simulation closely matches what is observed in the Universe and gives researchers the confidence to use the simulation results to interpret observations of galaxy clusters. The study also found several lenticular galaxies outside the expected high-density regions, with simulations suggesting that they were created by the merger of two galaxies. Dr. Pfeffer said the study brings together disparate pieces of research on galactic evolution to understand for the first time the relationship between morphology and density.

“Many offers came in over time,” he said. “But this is the first work that really puts all the pieces of the puzzle together.”