Teaching Machines to Learn the Universe: Galaxy Science in the Rubin Era
Details
The PAS is delighted to welcome our May speaker: Michelle Park, Master's student at Stanford University in Computational and Mathematics Engineering!
In-person attendance requires registration with the Los Altos Library at Teaching Machines to Learn the Universe: Galaxy Science in the Rubin Era. More info below in "Meeting Logistics"
About this Talk
Only a decade ago, projects like Galaxy Zoo relied on global human effort to classify millions of galaxies by eye. With the Vera C. Rubin Observatory’s first light now underway, these approaches no longer scale. Its Legacy Survey of Space and Time (LSST) will image tens of billions of galaxies, repeatedly mapping the sky over the next decade. Astrophysics has entered the big-data regime: deep learning algorithms are now required to not just process data but also identify the most scientifically meaningful signals. In this talk, we’ll explore how deep learning is reshaping galaxy science in the Rubin era. We’ll see how our models can help find unexpected objects, extract distances and physical properties from images alone, and uncover subtle structural patterns across cosmic time through accurate galaxy classification. Finally, we’ll look ahead to astronomy’s multi-modal future, where AI algorithms can integrate Rubin data with diverse surveys and data types to build a unified, data-driven picture of galaxy evolution.
About the Speaker
Michelle Park is a master’s student at Stanford University in Computational and Mathematical Engineering, with a bachelor’s in Engineering Physics. Originally from Cleveland, Ohio, she developed a passion for astrophysics at age 11 after reading about Pluto’s reclassification as a dwarf planet. In her research, she studies simulated galaxies to understand the physics of their formation and evolution. She is interested in the intersection of physics, computation, and engineering by working toward building next-generation cosmological simulations.
Meeting Logistics
This is a hybrid meeting, at the Los Altos Library and on Zoom.
- In-person attendance requires registration with the Los Altos Library on this page: Teaching Machines to Learn the Universe: Galaxy Science in the Rubin Era
- Online attendance does not require registration and will be available over Zoom, with link visible to those who RSVP here.
Our Partners
We'd like to thank the Los Altos Library in Los Altos, California, and our partners at Stanford University's Kavli Institute for Particle Astrophysics and Cosmology (KIPAC) for their support and commitment to bringing great astronomy talks and speakers to PAS members and the wider community.