---
title: "Astronomers Call on Quarantined Citizens to Hunt for Galaxies"
description: "Just because you're holed up at home for the time being doesn't mean you can't help out with important scientific research."
date: "2020-03-30"
modified: "2020-03-30"
authors:
  - name: "Dan Robitzski"
    link: "https://futurism.com/authors/danrobitzski"
url: "https://futurism.com/the-byte/astronomers-quarantined-citizens-hunt-galaxies"
categories:
  - "Science & Energy"
tags:
  - "citizen science"
  - "space"
  - "the digest"
---

# Astronomers Call on Quarantined Citizens to Hunt for Galaxies

![Just because you're holed up at home for the time being doesn't mean you can't help out with important scientific research.](<https://futurism.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/03/astronomers-quarantined-citizens-hunt-galaxies.jpg>)
*\<em\>Image: Image via Pxfuel/Victor Tangermann\</em\>*

## Citizen Science

Your friends have taken up new hobbies like baking or needlepoint while they self-isolate. If you're looking for something that can undeniably one-up them and their endless bread pics, why not join the hunt for new galaxies?

The coronavirus pandemic is a prime opportunity for people to get involved in citizen science projects, *[Space.com ](<https://www.space.com/penguins-search-galaxy-zoo-citizen-science-during-coronavirus.html>)*[reports](<https://www.space.com/penguins-search-galaxy-zoo-citizen-science-during-coronavirus.html>), in which non-scientists can lend their time to a sort of crowd-sourced research project. One of those, [the Galaxy Zoo](<https://www.zooniverse.org/projects/zookeeper/galaxy-zoo/>), is actively shaping our [understanding of the universe](<https://futurism.com/millions-citizen-scientists-transforming-world-their-homes>).

## Keeping Busy

The idea behind citizen science is that researchers, like Galaxy Zoo principal investigator and Oxford astrophysicist Chris Lintott, handle the dense science, and [everyone else helps out](<https://futurism.com/nasa-announces-first-multi-planet-system-discovered-through-crowdsourcing>) with the less-technical tasks. In this case, astrophysicists capture new images of space, and Galaxy Zoo participants help classify any new galaxies that pop up.

"The shape of a galaxy tells you about its history: it tells you about when it accreted material, when it collided with other galaxies, when it formed stars and all sorts of other things," Lintott told *Space.com*. "But astronomers are quite good at getting images of galaxies and less good at sorting through the data."

## First Look

Surveying the night sky can give astronomers a seemingly insurmountable pile of new information — and enlisting an army of volunteers can be a crucial part of figuring out what's actually going on.

"You might well be the first person ever to see that galaxy," Lintott told *Space.com*. "Just by logging onto the website, you can literally see something that no one has ever seen before."

**READ MORE:** [Cooped up at home? You can help scientists spot penguins from space or seek out new galaxies.](<https://www.space.com/penguins-search-galaxy-zoo-citizen-science-during-coronavirus.html>) \[*Space.com*\]

**More on citizen science:** *[Scientists Discover New Snail, Name it After Greta Thunberg](<https://futurism.com/the-byte/scientists-discover-new-snail-greta-thunberg>)*

## Author
Dan Robitzki is a senior reporter for Futurism, where he likes to cover AI, tech ethics, and medicine. He spends his extra time fencing and streaming games from Los Angeles, California.

### Author social links  
[Twitter](<https://x.com/danrobitzski>)