Astronomy
Astronomy has the longest tradition of amateur discovery of any science. Today's telescopes produce far more data than professionals can inspect, so human eyes are still in demand.
Why volunteers matter here
Eyes beat algorithms on oddities
Software finds what it was built to find. Volunteers keep spotting objects nobody predicted, from Hanny's Voorwerp to Boyajian's star.
The sky is big and always changing
Comets, supernovae and impacts happen anywhere, any night. A worldwide network of backyard observers catches events that scheduled telescopes miss.
Surveys outpace their teams
Missions like TESS, WISE and the Vera C. Rubin Observatory produce millions of images. Volunteers triage them and label training data.
What you need
- Nothing: most online projects need only a browser.
- Binoculars and a star chart for variable-star estimates or Globe at Night.
- A small telescope and camera for transit timing or planetary imaging.
- A free account on Zooniverse; for observing, the AAVSO or a local astronomy club.
Projects to join
Time