galmask: A Python package for unsupervised galaxy masking

TL;DR

galmask is an open-source Python package designed for unsupervised galaxy masking to accurately isolate the central galaxy in images, addressing challenges posed by crowded regions in large-scale survey analyses.

Contribution

This paper introduces galmask, a novel Python package that performs unsupervised galaxy masking to improve object isolation in astronomical images.

Findings

Effective in isolating central galaxies in crowded regions

Open-source and easy to install via pip

Addresses bias issues in automated galaxy classification

Abstract

Galaxy morphological classification is a fundamental aspect of galaxy formation and evolution studies. Various machine learning tools have been developed for automated pipeline analysis of large-scale surveys, enabling a fast search for objects of interest. However, crowded regions in the image may pose a challenge as they can lead to bias in the learning algorithm. In this Research Note, we present galmask, an open-source package for unsupervised galaxy masking to isolate the central object of interest in the image. galmask is written in Python and can be installed from PyPI via the pip command.