Explainable Galaxy Interaction Prediction with Hybrid Attention Mechanisms

Abstract

Galaxy interaction classification remains challenging due to complex morphological patterns and the limited interpretability of deep learning models. We propose an attentive neural ensemble that combines AG-XCaps, H-SNN, and ResNet-GRU architectures, trained on the Galaxy Zoo DESI dataset and enhanced with LIME to enable explainable predictions. The model achieves Precision = 0.95, Recall = 1.00, F1 = 0.97, and Accuracy = 96%, outperforming a Random Forest baseline by significantly reducing false positives (23 vs. 70). This lightweight (0.45 MB) and scalable framework provides an interpretable and efficient solution for large-scale surveys such as Euclid and LSST, advancing data-driven studies of galaxy evolution.

7 pages, 16 figures