Astronomy is made up of big numbers. There are approximately 100 billion stars in the Milky Way. There are probably around 2 trillion galaxies in the observable universe. There are 13.8 billion years of the universe’s history to study. There are millions of hours worth of telescope data, some of which still hasn’t been analyzed. And the process of going through this data takes time. Often, the time involved is too much for any individual researcher or even scientific collaboration to handle. So in the last couple of decades scientists have explored a new tactic: citizen science.
The popularity of citizen science–the process of bringing in the general public to assist with research–started in 2007, when then-graduate student Kevin Schawinski was set the task of determining the shape of 900,000 galaxies by eye. He realized that just looking at each galaxy once, it would take ~4 years working 24/7 to go through the whole sample. Deciding that this was absolutely unreasonable, he teamed up with Chris Lintott to launch Galaxy Zoo: an online project open to anyone who wanted to help with active astrophysics research. In 175 days, over 40 million classifications were made. In the ten years following, Galaxy Zoo led to over 60 published papers and even the discovery of new types of galaxies! It showed how powerful of a tool citizen science could be.
The success of Galaxy Zoo led to the creation of Zooniverse, a platform with hundreds of citizen science projects in astronomy, as well as fields like climate research, literature, history, medicine, and the arts. In July 2024 the Euclid Space Telescope partnered with Galaxy Zoo to help analyze the 100 GB of data sent to Earth from the space telescope every day. Their first data set has more than 800,000 images that volunteers can look through and identify galaxy morphologies.
Beyond the Zoo
Euclid isn’t the only space telescope utilizing citizen science. The recently launched Cosmic Collisions Project uses JWST data to find merging galaxies. Finding mergers can help support research into how galaxy collisions are linked to black hole growth. The Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite (TESS) also got in on the fun, with their Planet Hunters project recruiting almost 45,000 people to hunt for exoplanet signatures around 10,000 stars. This led to some exciting discoveries, including Tabby’s star which has large and irregular changes in brightness that are still unexplained. Other projects on Zooniverse range from identifying gamma ray bursts to spotting waves in Earth’s atmosphere. All of these projects walk volunteers through the scientific background, where the images/data comes from, and what exactly they’re looking for and need to do. Participants can also chat with each other and the researchers on discussion boards, allowing for a sense of collaboration and giving people a chance to troubleshoot problems and ask questions. Sometimes, the citizen scientists will even be offered authorship on publications that come from the research. While human error is always a factor in research, the high volume of involvement can help researchers come to a consensus and remove outliers.
As astronomy and many other sciences move into an era of Big Data, citizen science projects like those offered on Zooniverse are becoming a widely used and valuable tool. They can be a part of outreach efforts, helping people understand more of the scientific process. They can be implemented into curricula, providing undergraduate or high school students a first glimpse into cutting edge research. They can also just be done for fun, allowing for the exploration of topics you may never have considered. Citizen science is a powerful tool for both scientists and the public, and one that will undoubtedly continue to grow over the years.
Edited By: Ali Crisp & Yoni Brande
Featured image credit: Zooniverse
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I’m happy using the HiWish program for suggesting places for HiRISE to look at. Some of the pictures are breathtaking.