An extended re-implementation of Gavazzi et al's RingFinder galaxy-scale strong gravitational lens detection robot. Subtract red light from blue, analyze residuals, classify. Helping find lenses in the DES images since May 2016.
For an introduction to the basic method, check out the original paper: "RingFinder: automated detection of galaxy-scale gravitational lenses in ground-based multi-filter imaging data" by Raphael Gavazzi et al (2014). We are trying to extend this method to be able to make color residuals, and are investigating improved ways to interpret those residuals.
This is research in progress. All content is Copyright 2016 The Authors, and the python code is available for re-use under the MIT License (which basically means you can do anything you like with it but you can't blame us if it doesn't work). If you end up using any of the ideas or code in this repository in your own research, please cite (Collett et al in preparation), and provide a link to this repo's URL: https://github.com/DES-SL/BlueRings. However, long before you get to that point, we'd love it if you got in touch with us! You can write to us with comments or questions any time using this repo's issues.
People working on this project:
- Tom Collett (Portsmouth, DES SL: @tcollett)
- James Nightingale (Nottingham, DES SL)
- Phil Marshall (KIPAC, DES Space Warps @drphilmarshall))
