Mining Large Databases for Evidence of Galaxy Mass Assembly
Abstract
We present several instances where large distributed multi-wavelength astronomical databases have been searched for evidence of galaxy assembly. These instances include mergers, starbursts, active galaxies, collisions, groupings, and tidal interactions. The sum of all such searches will contribute to an objective measure of the hierarchical mass assembly rate and test the standard models for cosmological structure formation and evolution. We will describe a new simulation atlas and genetic algorithm approach to mining hundreds of thousands of galaxy-galaxy collision simulations for specific model parameters to match observational parameters of galaxies in new and future very large galaxy survey databases. Such direct model-observation matches will provide specific dynamical paramenters for thousands of observed interacting galaxy pairs: masses, orbits, dynamical time to merger, orientation.
- Publication:
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American Astronomical Society Meeting Abstracts
- Pub Date:
- December 2004
- Bibcode:
- 2004AAS...205.9405B