Zooniverse
Type of site | Citizen science web portal |
|---|---|
| Available in | English, German, Polish |
| Owner | Citizen Science Alliance |
| Created by | Citizen Science Alliance |
| URL | http://www.zooniverse.org |
| Commercial | No |
| Registration | Optional |
Zooniverse is a citizen science web portal that grew from the original Galaxy Zoo project. It hosts numerous projects which allow users to participate in scientific research from classifying galaxies to collating climate data. Unlike many early internet-based citizen science projects such as SETI@home which used spare computer processing power to analyse data, known as volunteer computing, Zooniverse projects require the active participation of human volunteers to complete research tasks. As of 11 July 2011 the community consists of 439,868 volunteers,[1] collectively referred to as "Zooites".[2]
Projects
Active projects currently include:
Galaxy Zoo Hubble
The latest incarnation of the Galaxy Zoo project. It involves classifying hundreds of thousands of galaxies drawn from NASA's Hubble Space Telescope archive. It includes galaxies with 'blue clumps' that may represent a stage in the maturing of galaxies into modern forms.
Galaxy Zoo Mergers
Using galactic merger discovered by the Galaxy Zoo project to study the dynamics of interacting galaxies.
Galaxy Zoo Supernovae
Using the Palomar Transient Factory survey to search for supernovae for quick follow-up study by telescopes around the world.
Moon Zoo
High-resolution images of the Moon's surface provided by the Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter are used by volunteers to create detailed crater counts, mapping the variation in age of lunar rocks.
Old Weather
Zooites use a special interface to digitally transcribe weather data from the log books of World War 1 era Royal Navy ships. The information will be used to improve climate modelling.
Solar Stormwatch
The project uses data including video imagery from the twin STEREO spacecraft to track the formation and evolution of coronal mass ejections.
Planet Hunters
Identifying extrasolar planets from the light curves of stars recorded by the Kepler space telescope.
The Milky Way Project
Detecting bubbles in the interstellar medium which indicate regions where the early stages of star formation are taking place. The project uses infrared images from the Spitzer space telescope.
Ice Hunters
Identifying Kuiper Belt objects for potential future targets for the New Horizons spacecraft. Also identifies variable stars and asteroids. It makes use of human review of subtracted images from various telescopes.
Ancient Lives
Transcribing Oxyrhynchus Papyri. The papyri belong to the Egypt Exploration Society and their texts will eventually be published and numbered in Society's Greco-Roman Memoirs series.
References
- ^ "Zooniverse". Retrieved 11 July 2011.
- ^ Coulter, Dauna (22 April 2011). "Citizen Scientists Making Incredible Discoveries". NASA. Retrieved 11 July 2011.