Citizen Science Stories

A collage of space-themed citizen science project logos, including 'Milky Way Project,' 'Exoplanet Explorers,' 'Cool Neighbors,' 'Disk Detective,' and 'Backyard Worlds: Planet 9.

NASA’s NEOWISE Spacecraft Re-Enters Atmosphere, But More Discoveries Await!

2 min read

NASA’s NEOWISE (Near-Earth Object Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer) spacecraft re-entered and burned up in Earth’s atmosphere on Friday night, as expected. Launched in 2009 as the WISE mission, the spacecraft has been mapping the entire sky at infrared wavelengths over…

Article2 weeks ago
A young woman with curly blonde hair wearing a cozy sweater smiles at the camera, standing in a modern hallway with plants in the background.

Sadie Coffin Named Association for Advancing Participatory Sciences/NASA Citizen Science Leaders Series Fellow

2 min read

In August, the Association for Advancing Participatory Sciences (AAPS) announced a fellowship opportunity in partnership with the NASA Citizen Science Leaders Series. Fifty-five people applied! The applications came from graduate students and early career professionals in diverse disciplines, including astronomy,…

Article2 weeks ago
A computer generated image of Mars with approximately 80% showing the surface of Mars in bands of gray while the other 20% is a checkboard image inferring this part of the surface has not yet be rendered.

New Project Invites You To Do Martian Cloud Science with NASA

2 min read

Like staring at the clouds? Love the planet Mars? How about staring at the clouds…on Mars?  Now you can join Cloudspotting on Mars: Shapes, a new NASA citizen science project, and help identify beautiful cloud formations on the Red Planet. …

Article3 weeks ago

Watch How Students Help NASA Grow Plants in Space: Growing Beyond Earth

2 min read

Since 2015, students from across the USA have been partnering with scientists at NASA to advance research on growing plants in space, ultimately to feed astronauts on long-distance space missions, as part of Fairchild Tropical Botanic Garden’s Growing Beyond Earth…

Article3 weeks ago

Eclipse Megamovie Coding Competition

3 min read

Making the most of a solar eclipse demands attention to detail. Do you have what it takes? NASA’s Eclipse Megamovie project launched a new coding competition, and they need your help to organize images from the April 8, 2024 total…

Article1 month ago
An illustration showing the orbits of four newly named asteroids.

Four Asteroids Named After NASA Volunteers

3 min read

Four amateur astronomers working on NASA’s citizen science project, The Daily Minor Planet, were honored for their contributions to astronomy and planetary science by having asteroids in the asteroid belt between Mars and Jupiter named after them. These volunteers reviewed…

Article1 month ago

NASA’s TESS Spots Record-Breaking Stellar Triplets

6 min read

Professional and amateur astronomers teamed up with artificial intelligence to find an unmatched stellar trio called TIC 290061484, thanks to cosmic “strobe lights” captured by NASA’s TESS (Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite).  The system contains a set of twin stars orbiting…

Article2 months ago
A circular illustration representing various STEM elements. The center contains a globe, and surrounding it are icons depicting a person using a laptop, a potted plant, a telescope, a smartphone or tablet, a compass, a lightbulb, a ruler, a rocket, and a flask, all outlined in white with red and blue accents.

Women in Astronomy Citizen Science Webinar This Thursday

1 min read

Women hold up half the sky… but participation numbers for NASA-sponsored citizen science projects don’t always reflect that. Why? And what can we do to welcome people of all genders to participate? During this week’s NASA Citizen Science Leaders Series…

Article2 months ago
This is an artist’s concept of exoasteroids in space, featuring rocky asteroids of various sizes orbiting around a distant star. The scene depicts a dense asteroid belt, illuminated by the bright light of a star in the background, with dust and debris scattered throughout the space between the asteroids.

Find Exoasteroids and Peek into the Future

1 min read

What will remain of our solar system a few billion years from now?  We’re launching the Exoasteroids project to gather some clues. Join this new citizen science project, and help search for variable white dwarfs – bizarre objects that we…

Article2 months ago
Illustration of a large planet with a grayish atmosphere partially illuminated by a distant bright star in space, surrounded by a dark sky dotted with small stars.

When Will That Star Dim? Amateur Planet-Chasers Got You!

2 min read

A planet swings in front of its star, dimming the starlight we see. Events like these, called transits, provide us with bounties of information about exoplanets–planets around stars other than the Sun. But predicting when these special events occur can…

Article2 months ago