citizen science – Astronomy Now

OSIRIS-REx is looking for a few good citizen scientists

23 May 2019 Astronomy Now

OSIRIS-REx scientists are asking citizen scientists to help map and count rocks on asteroid Bennu to aid in picking a sample selection site.

Citizen-scientists fine tune Juno shots of Jupiter

22 May 2018 Astronomy Now

NASA’s Juno spacecraft is helping scientists learn more about the giant planet’s interior structure and the dynamo that powers its magnetic field, but citizen scientists are keeping the public up to date with stunning images providing unique views of the planet’s mesmerising clouds.

Team makes planet hunting a group effort, finds more than 100 candidates

14 February 2017 Stephen Clark

An international team of astronomers released the largest-ever compilation of exoplanet-detecting observations made using a technique called the radial velocity method. They demonstrated how these observations can be used to hunt for planets by detecting more than 100 potential exoplanets, including one orbiting the fourth-closest star to our own Solar System, which is about 8.1 light years away from Earth.

ISS astronaut pictures of Earth used for light pollution studies

12 August 2015 Astronomy Now

Scientists are using photographs taken by astronauts aboard the International Space Station (ISS) to reliably measure the amount of light pollution worldwide and to produce a global colour map of the Earth at night. The total cost of the energy consumption for streetlights is estimated by the study to be 6300 million euros/year in the European Union.

Boldly go explore an asteroid with NASA’s Vesta Trek

2 April 2015 Astronomy Now

Data gathered from multiple instruments aboard NASA’s Dawn spacecraft have been compiled into Vesta Trek — a free, web-based application that provides detailed visualisations of one of the largest asteroids in our Solar System.