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Main Authors: Butrum, T., Holwerda, B., Keel, W. C., Robertson, C., Castellano, I., Pandey, S., Adnan, S. M. R., Bills, L. C., Patel, D., Cook, K., Hardin, T., Palao, A., Connelly, B., Morton, M.
Format: Preprint
Published: 2026
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Online Access:https://arxiv.org/abs/2602.22079
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author Butrum, T.
Holwerda, B.
Keel, W. C.
Robertson, C.
Castellano, I.
Pandey, S.
Adnan, S. M. R.
Bills, L. C.
Patel, D.
Cook, K.
Hardin, T.
Palao, A.
Connelly, B.
Morton, M.
author_facet Butrum, T.
Holwerda, B.
Keel, W. C.
Robertson, C.
Castellano, I.
Pandey, S.
Adnan, S. M. R.
Bills, L. C.
Patel, D.
Cook, K.
Hardin, T.
Palao, A.
Connelly, B.
Morton, M.
contents Overlapping galaxies, in which a foreground galaxy partially overlaps a background galaxy, offer a unique opportunity to measure dust attenuation, a key nuisance parameter in galaxy studies, empirically and in great detail by modelling the light of both the foreground and background galaxy and inferring the missing light in the overlapping region. However, the current catalogue of overlapping pairs is relatively limited in number compared to catalogues dedicated to individual galaxies. Expanding this catalogue is not only a necessity to facilitate further detailed dust studies beyond the few limited studies conducted thus far, but also to improve pair-to-pair variance and support automated identification through machine learning techniques. To achieve this, we utilise galaxies classified as "overlapping" from Galaxy Zoo DECaLS (GZD-1, -2, and -5), along with images from Data Release 10 (DR10) of the DESI Legacy Survey, in our individual citizen science project to classify these pairs directly using volunteers. This new catalogue will not only provide a wealth of targets for future dust studies but will also contribute to a deeper understanding of these pairs and dust as a whole.
format Preprint
id arxiv_https___arxiv_org_abs_2602_22079
institution arXiv
publishDate 2026
record_format arxiv
spellingShingle Overlap Zoo Beta: A Catalogue of ~800 Occulting Pairs in the DESI Legacy Survey using Citizen Science
Butrum, T.
Holwerda, B.
Keel, W. C.
Robertson, C.
Castellano, I.
Pandey, S.
Adnan, S. M. R.
Bills, L. C.
Patel, D.
Cook, K.
Hardin, T.
Palao, A.
Connelly, B.
Morton, M.
Astrophysics of Galaxies
Overlapping galaxies, in which a foreground galaxy partially overlaps a background galaxy, offer a unique opportunity to measure dust attenuation, a key nuisance parameter in galaxy studies, empirically and in great detail by modelling the light of both the foreground and background galaxy and inferring the missing light in the overlapping region. However, the current catalogue of overlapping pairs is relatively limited in number compared to catalogues dedicated to individual galaxies. Expanding this catalogue is not only a necessity to facilitate further detailed dust studies beyond the few limited studies conducted thus far, but also to improve pair-to-pair variance and support automated identification through machine learning techniques. To achieve this, we utilise galaxies classified as "overlapping" from Galaxy Zoo DECaLS (GZD-1, -2, and -5), along with images from Data Release 10 (DR10) of the DESI Legacy Survey, in our individual citizen science project to classify these pairs directly using volunteers. This new catalogue will not only provide a wealth of targets for future dust studies but will also contribute to a deeper understanding of these pairs and dust as a whole.
title Overlap Zoo Beta: A Catalogue of ~800 Occulting Pairs in the DESI Legacy Survey using Citizen Science
topic Astrophysics of Galaxies
url https://arxiv.org/abs/2602.22079