cross-matching

Cross-matching is a process used mainly in astronomy and healthcare to identify relationships between different data sets. In astronomy, it involves comparing star or galaxy catalogs to determine which observations correspond to the same object, helping scientists track celestial bodies accurately. In healthcare, it refers to matching a patient's data with available blood or tissue donors to ensure compatibility for transfusions or transplants. Essentially, cross-matching ensures that information from different sources aligns correctly, reducing errors and improving decision-making. It’s a systematic way to verify connections between datasets for accurate identification or matching.