Citizen Science

With the next Idea Club dealing with science done by focused ‘amateurs’, let’s take a look at some of the possibilities.

Astronomy is probably the type of citizen science that comes to one’s mind first. We hear all the time about some just regular guy finding something really cool. Well, it still happens (this is from July). A recent event was discussed at a great site called Bad Astronomy.

In this case, a telescope from the ground, one that many people have, was used to take some  incredible pictures of the International Space Station. Or this incredible time lapse of the Milky Way rising. Or this photo of the Shuttle and ISS as they pass in front of the Sun.

These were all taken with equipment that many people have. It simply took some very careful calculations to make it happen. And most anyone can now have a telescope that is better than the one Galileo used for a very low price.

Next we will look at some of the things people can do as biologists.

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