Preliminary Results of Virtual Reality Mapping of E+A Galaxies and Candidates in Nearby Rich Clusters of Galaxies

Abstract

In the study of large astronomical data sets, virtual reality (VR) can help build valuable spatial intuition for scientific discovery. We created VR visualizations of E+A galaxies and candidates in four nearby clusters of galaxies: Leo, Virgo, Hercules, and Coma. E+A's are a type of post-starburst galaxy in which all star formation has been recently (∼1 Gyr ago) quenched. Our E+A samples were assembled and cataloged by the Y/Dim collaboration through visual and quantitative analysis of SDSS DR16 spectra. The visualizations are designed for Oculus VR headsets, and utilize C# scripts which interface with the Unity engine, including public domain code and code developed by the lead author. We use these visualizations to find features of the aforementioned galaxy clusters: for instance, a “nose” of low velocity objects in the center of the Virgo cluster and a collection of E+A candidates along a galactic filament in the Coma cluster.