Citizen Science and Scientific Results from the World's Largest Network
of Backyard Astronomers
Abstract
Thanks to the Unistellar network, citizen scientists and ordinary people
all over the world can now enjoy the wonders of the night sky while also
making important scientific discoveries. More than 5,000 people who own
an eVscope—a digital, smart, and portable telescope—are doing
precisely that thanks to a collaboration between Unistellar and
scientists at the SETI Institute. The eVscope has already achieved many
significant breakthroughs, including the detection by 79 observers of 85
transits by Jupiter-sized exoplanets, 281 asteroid occultations
(including forty-five positive ones), and three shape and spin solutions
for near-Earth asteroids. The network has also lent important support to
NASA’s TESS mission by making transatlantic observations of an exoplanet
transit, and to NASA’s Lucy mission by profiling Trojan asteroids this
spacecraft will soon visit. These data are collected by observers in
Europe, North America, Japan, Australia, and New Zealand, and the
Unistellar network will soon expand to the rest of Asia and to South
America, ensuring that each of these accomplishments is the product of
coordinated efforts by hundreds or even thousands of observers across
the globe. Our team is also working with NASA to develop several
education programs involving the Girl Scouts of America, and community
colleges around the US designed to connect teachers, professors, amateur
astronomy clubs, and informal education partners. Our goal is to give
every observer of the night sky the chance to experience the thrill of
space exploration while we also educate young people to ensure that they
are ready to carry humanity to and across the next frontier.