Star-Galaxy Classification in Deep LSST Data with Random Forest: A Pilot study on the Data Preview 1 Release

TL;DR

This study evaluates machine learning methods, especially Random Forests, for star-galaxy classification in deep LSST data, emphasizing the importance of multi-band photometry and uncertainties for minimizing galaxy contamination.

Contribution

It demonstrates that LSST multi-band photometry and photometric uncertainties significantly improve star-galaxy separation at faint magnitudes compared to morphology alone.

Findings

Multi-band photometry outperforms morphology-based classification at faint magnitudes.

Colors involving the u-band are crucial for robust separation.

Including photometric uncertainties yields the best classification performance.

Abstract

The Vera C. Rubin Observatory Legacy Survey of Space and Time (LSST) will produce unprecedentedly deep and wide photometric catalogs, enabling transformative studies of faint stellar systems such as the research of ultra-faint dwarf galaxies (UFDs). A critical challenge for these studies is reliable star-galaxy separation at faint magnitudes, where compact background galaxies increasingly contaminate stellar samples. This work aims to assess the performance of supervised machine-learning techniques for star-galaxy separation in LSST-like data, quantify the relative importance of morphological and photometric information, and identify the most effective combinations of input features for minimizing galaxy contamination while preserving stellar completeness in the faint regime relevant for UFD searches. We apply a Random Forest classifier to observations of the Extended Chandra Deep Field South from LSST Data Preview 1 (DP1), the deepest field observed within the DP1. We construct a curated sample of bona fide stars and galaxies using spectroscopic data, Gaia DR3, and multi-band photometric catalogs. We train and validate the classifier using several configurations of LSST-based input features, including multi-band colors, the LSST morphological parameter refExtendedness, and photometric uncertainties. We find that LSST multi-band photometry alone delivers a good star-galaxy separation, significantly outperforming morphology-based classification at faint magnitudes. Colors involving the u-band are essential to provide a robust star galaxy separation. Furthermore, explicitly including photometric uncertainties as input features yields the best overall performance. Across all configurations that include all the six LSST filters, galaxy contamination remains negligible almost the whole magnitude range probed in this work (i.e. r < 27.5 mag). [abridged]