All articles tagged with #citizen science
A bright fireball over western Germany near Koblenz exploded and showered space rocks; scientists and citizen scientists pieced together the meteorite's likely trajectory using hundreds of eyewitness reports and KIT seismic data, while German law generally lets you keep meteorites unless they’re of special value; NASA estimates around 44,000 kg of meteoritic material reaches Earth daily, mostly micrometeorites.
Citizen scientists in NASA's Backyard Worlds project identified CWISE J124909.08+362116.0 traveling at about 1 million miles per hour, fast enough to escape the Milky Way. Its nature is unclear, likely a brown dwarf or low-mass star, possibly ejected by a white-dwarf supernova or a close encounter in a globular cluster. The discovery, reported in Astrophysical Journal Letters, underscores the power of crowdsourced science using NASA's WISE data.
Citizen scientists identify a Pavona clavus coral off Cairns spanning about 111 meters and covering roughly 3,973 square meters, potentially making it one of the reef’s largest colonies. Genetic testing is needed to confirm if it is a single organism or multiple close colonies, with size mapped via photogrammetry and implications for reef resilience.
A mother-daughter team with Citizens of the Reef identified the world’s largest known coral colony on the Great Barrier Reef—a Pavona clavus spanning about 111 meters and covering roughly 3,973 square meters—verified by underwater measurements and a 3D model; the exact location isn’t released to protect the site, and the find underscores the value of citizen science in reef monitoring amid ongoing bleaching.
A citizen scientist analyzing Kepler data identified an Earth-sized exoplanet, HD 137010b, orbiting a nearby K-dwarf star HD 137010 (about 146 light-years away). The discovery, made by Alexander Venner, was noted for having been missed by automated searches and will guide upcoming telescope campaigns (ESA’s PLATO and Terra Hunting Experiment) to scrutinize a potentially habitable world.
A 12-year-old Canadian boy from Ontario, Siddharth Patel, has potentially discovered two new asteroids through a citizen science program in partnership with NASA, highlighting his passion for astronomy and his aspirations to become an astronaut.
Astronomers, with the help of citizen scientists, have discovered the most powerful and distant 'odd radio circle' (ORC) to date, featuring a unique double-ring structure that may be shaped by super winds from spiral galaxies, providing new insights into galaxy and black hole co-evolution.
Citizen scientists discovered the most powerful twin odd radio circles (ORCs) in space, revealing new insights into these large, mysterious structures that are linked to galaxy activity and black hole phenomena, with implications for understanding galaxy evolution and the role of plasma interactions in space.
NASA, with the help of citizen scientists, discovered a mysterious high-speed sphere named CWISE J1249 escaping the Milky Way at 1 million miles per hour, challenging existing classifications and prompting theories about its origin, such as a supernova kick or black hole slingshot.
Astronomers have discovered the most powerful and distant odd radio circle, RAD J131346.9+500320, which features two overlapping rings spanning a million light-years, likely caused by black hole activity or galactic mergers. This discovery highlights the importance of human pattern recognition in analyzing vast astronomical data, with citizen scientists playing a key role. Future telescopes like SKA aim to uncover more such structures, deepening our understanding of galaxy evolution.
Astronomers, with citizen scientists, discovered the most powerful and distant odd radio circle (ORC), named J131346.9+500320, featuring two intersecting rings likely formed by black hole winds or shocks, providing insights into galaxy and black hole co-evolution.
Citizen scientists discovered two crossing rings of extragalactic radio signals forming a near-perfect Venn diagram, identified as 'odd radio circles' (ORCs), which are vast, magnetized plasma rings visible only at radio wavelengths. These findings, among the most distant and powerful, suggest ORCs may result from galactic superwinds and black hole activity, providing insights into galaxy and black hole co-evolution. The discovery underscores the value of human pattern recognition in scientific research.
NASA is inviting the public to help map impact melt flow deposits on the Moon using images from the Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter, to better understand lunar geology and impact history.
Citizen astronomers may have captured the first video of an impact on Saturn, but confirmation requires independent recordings due to potential artifacts. The event, if verified, would provide valuable data on impact rates and object sizes in the outer solar system, highlighting the importance of collaborative observation and analysis. Current evidence remains unconfirmed, and further coordinated efforts are underway to verify the event.
NASA astronaut Nichole Ayers captured a rare image of a gigantic jet from the ISS, providing valuable data on this elusive atmospheric electrical discharge that extends from thunderstorms into space, enhancing understanding of Earth's upper atmosphere and space weather interactions.