Citizen Science & Sky Observation Drives

Overview

Citizen science invites members of the public to take part in real scientific work. In astronomy, careful observations by many people in many places can add up to data that professional scientists use.

These drives bring people together to observe the sky and to contribute to open-data space science projects. No previous experience is needed to take part.

Activities

• Community astronomy sessions: guided evenings of sky watching, open to students, families and interested members of the public.
• Night sky tracking: learning to follow the movement of the Moon, planets and constellations over weeks and seasons.
• Meteor shower observations: counting and recording meteors during annual showers, following a shared method so that results can be compared.
• Open-data contributions: taking part in online space science projects that rely on volunteers to classify images or examine data.

Why it matters

Observing the sky first-hand is one of the most direct ways to understand our place in the universe. Contributing to shared projects also shows how science works in practice: through careful observation, agreed methods and open data.