Work

Bayesian Galaxy Asymmetry

Year: 2026

Type: article

Abstract: Galaxy asymmetry is an efficient way to characterize galaxy morphology in atomic hydrogen 21 cm emission detections. We propose a novel Bayesian approach to calculate the probability of an underlying squared differences asymmetry in a noisy detection. This approach has a number of advantages, including the recovery of low asymmetry values where prior noise corrections failed. More importantly, our approach provides robust uncertainties on the asymmetry, enabling a wide variety of statistical studies of galaxy populations. This method is generalized for convolved noise measures. We validate our method using a convergence test. Finally, we show how, when applied to the untargeted H I survey WALLABY, our method nearly triples the number of reliable measurements relatively to the previous state-of-the-art technique. This Bayesian approach to measure asymmetry will therefore further unlock the statistical power of widefield galaxy surveys.

Source: The Astrophysical Journal

DOI: 10.3847/1538-4357/aea97a

Authors: Mathieu Perron-Cormier, Kristine Spekkens, Nathan Deg, Lawrence M. Widrow, Marcin Glowacki

Institutions: Queen's University, Queens University, Inter-university Institute for Data Intensive Astronomy, University of Edinburgh

Language: English

Topic: Galaxies: Formation, Evolution, Phenomena

Subfield: Astronomy and Astrophysics

Field: Physics and Astronomy

Domain: Physical Sciences

Open Access status: gold

Estimated APC paid: $4,499