CITIZEN SCIENCE

When I was growing up you had very little chance of doing any real science as an amateur unless you were prepared to invest in astronomy equipment and sit outside in the cold night after night. These days you can do real science from the comfort of your own home with the aid of only a computer and internet access. You don't need any specialist technical knowledge, just an interest and a bit of spare time. On projects such as Galaxy Zoo amateurs are making a real contribution to science. I've collected together some of the projects that you might like to get involved in. If you are aware of any more please let me know.

GALAXY ZOO
This website displays Hubble images of distant galaxies and asks you a number of questions about them. This helps astronomers to categorise large numbers of galaxies in minimal time. The work of amateurs on this site has already led to some interesting discoveries. There is a tutorial to get you started and a forum to discuss ongoing issues and ideas.

MOON ZOO
Just like Galaxy zoo, but this time you are helping to categorise craters on the moon. They are currently running a special observation drive to coincide with International Observe the Moon Night.

SOLAR STROM WATCH
Help spot storms on the Sun and track them on their way through space to Earth.

GALAXY ZOO: SUPERNOVAE
In this Galaxy Zoo project you help identify candidates for new supernovae by playing 'spot the difference'. The candidates you identify can then be investigated further by astronomers using large telescopes.

GALAXY ZOO: COLLIDING GALAXIES
The original Galaxy Zoo project identified lots of colliding galaxies and this more recent project explores what happens when they collide. There are two parts to volunteering. You can either run simulations on your computer, which requires a Java Plug-in. Or you can review the results of simulations run by other volunteers (this can be done without any special software).

SETI at HOME
Help the search for extra terrestrial life by downloading some software. This project involves very little input from you, just the time it takes to download the software onto your machine. It will then run in the background when there is spare capacity. A fun way to get involved with no science knowledge required. A word of warning though, if you leave your computer on all the time this will use a lot more electricity than just leaving your machine on standby.