'Galaxy game' lets people help astronomers

LONDON, Nov. 25 (UPI) -- Astronomers in Britain have come up with an Internet galaxy game they say will get people to help them figure out the answers to celestial questions.

The Galaxy Zoo project provides images of colliding galaxies to players who then match them to multiple, randomly drawn simulations. Astronomers say that will help them determine how the galaxies actually merged because humans are "much better than computers" at spotting patterns and similarities, the British Broadcasting Corp. reported Wednesday.

"The strength of the game is that it takes results from many people," said Oxford University's Chris Lintott, a member of the Galaxy Zoo team.

Another member of the team, George Mason University graduate student Anthony Holincheck, said the galactic collisions take millions of years to unfold.

"All we get from the universe is a single snapshot of each one," he said. "(With) simulations, we will be able to watch each cosmic car crash unfold in the computer."