Dive in on data gleaned by NASA’s Kepler mission – on the lookout for planets beyond our own solar system – and help professional astronomers in their search for Earth-like planet.
Web users around the globe can join a new online citizen science project. The effort is tagged Planet Hunters, the latest in the Zooniverse citizen science project collection. The intent is to establish a global network of human computing power.
“The Kepler mission has given us another mountain of data to sort through,” said Kevin Schawinski, a Yale University astronomer and Planet Hunters co-founder.
Although Planet Hunters is not tied directly to the Kepler mission, the website will serve as a complement to the work being done by the Kepler team to analyze the data.
“The great thing about this project is that it gives the public a front row seat to participate in frontier scientific research,” added Meg Schwamb, another Yale astronomer and Planet Hunters co-founder.
Schawinski said that the point of citizen science is to actively involve people in real research. “When you join Planet Hunters, you’re contributing to actual science — and you might just make a real discovery.”
To join in on the just launched Planet Hunters activity, go to:
Also, check out other offerings in the Zooniverse collection by going to:
http://www.zooniverse.org/home
By LD/CSE