A simple and effective algorithm for quasar candidate selection

Nanbo Peng; Yanxia Zhang; Tong Pei; Yongheng Zhao

doi:10.1117/12.856766

19 July 2010 A simple and effective algorithm for quasar candidate selection

Nanbo Peng, Yanxia Zhang, Tong Pei, Yongheng Zhao

Proceedings Volume 7740, Software and Cyberinfrastructure for Astronomy; 77402X (2010) https://doi.org/10.1117/12.856766
Event: SPIE Astronomical Telescopes + Instrumentation, 2010, San Diego, California, United States

Abstract

K-Nearest Neighbor (kNN) algorithm is one of the simplest and most flexible and effective classification algorithms, which has been widely used in many fields. Using the multi-band samples extracted from large surveys of SDSS DR7 and UKIDSS DR3, we investigate the performance of kNN with different combinations of colors to select quasar candidates. The color histograms of quasars and stars is helpful to select the optimal input pattern for the classifier of kNN. The best input pattern is (u-g, g-r, r-i, i-z, z-Y, Y-J, J-H, H-K, Y-K, g-z). In our case, the performance of kNN is assessed by different performance metrics, which indicate kNN has rather high performance for discriminating quasars from stars. As a result, kNN is an applicable and effective method to select quasar candidates for large sky survey projects.

Citation Download Citation

Nanbo Peng, Yanxia Zhang, Tong Pei, and Yongheng Zhao "A simple and effective algorithm for quasar candidate selection", Proc. SPIE 7740, Software and Cyberinfrastructure for Astronomy, 77402X (19 July 2010); https://doi.org/10.1117/12.856766

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