How you can participate in astronomy research

We’re all here because we’re interested in reading about astronomy and science — but have you ever thought about becoming an active participant? Zooniverse is the world’s largest platform for “people-powered research,” connecting professional researchers with eager participants to generate amazing and groundbreaking scientific results — no formal training required!

Galaxy Zoo was the first — and remains the most well-known — project on the site, but Zooniverse has now expanded to include dozens of projects across multiple disciplines. Since we’re on an astronomy forum, I’d of course like to highlight specifically the space-themed projects currently underway, which you can find at https://www.zooniverse.org/projects?discipline=astronomy

Whether you’re interested in spotting cometary activity on asteroids (check out Active Asteroids), categorizing cloud shapes on Mars (Cloudspotting on Mars), chasing down extrasolar planets (Planet Hunters NGTS), or investigating gravitational waves (GWitchHunters), there’s something for everyone. And did I mention there’s absolutely no scientific training required? Every project will take you through a step-by-step demo showing you exactly how to contribute. It’s easy and fun, and you can participate in your spare time. Plus, you might just become part of the next big discovery, including becoming a co-author on a published scientific study!

I believe that science is for everyone, and Zooniverse proves just how true this is. I invite you to become part of a deeper understanding of our universe; then, make sure to come back here and tell us what you’ve found!

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Does theoretical physics count?

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I have contributed to Galaxy Zoo before and think that it’s quite fun, especially if you come across a galaxy with very prominent features, like spiral arms ^^

Also, another way of contributing that I found is running a program called BOINC on your pc, so it can help astronomers analyze their gathered data

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Absolutely! I only mention the astronomy projects here, but there are numerous other projects in fields that include physics, history, medicine, language, and social science. The entire list of active projects is here — including, if you scroll to the right on the subject options, plenty in physics. Some overlap with astronomy or other disciplines, but there are some that are more purely physics, such as a new particle search at CERN!

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