Citizen Science - NASA Science

Observing a solar eclipse is one of many ways to get in on the fun of doing science. You can get involved with NASA science by participating in a number of NASA-funded citizen science projects. Citizen science projects are collaborations between scientists and interested members of the public. Through these collaborations, volunteers (known as citizen scientists) have helped make thousands of important scientific discoveries.

Here are a few of NASA’s citizen science projects related to the Sun and eclipses:

The Sun's atmosphere, shown in red, with a bright white stream of a comet shooting through it.

The Sungrazer Project

Discover and report previously unknown comets.

A portion of the Sun, shown against a graph. A bright stream of solar material is bursting off the Sun.

Solar Jet Hunter

Join the hunt for solar jets — enigmatic bursts of energy from our own star, the Sun.

Aurorasaurus

Did you see the aurora? Join a worldwide reporting system to help us understand how the Sun affects Earth.

Silhouettes of two men on a rooftop with a radio antenna to their left.

HamSCI

Are you a Ham radio operator? Help us better understand Earth’s ionosphere.

A portion of the red Sun, with a loop of solar material cascading against the dark expanse of space.

Radio JOVE

Listen to the Sun during the eclipse to contribute to our understanding of radio emissions caused by solar activity.

A black circle, surrounded by streams of blue and orange.

Citizen CATE 2024

Help study structures and changes in the Sun’s outer atmosphere, or corona, by taking images of the total eclipse in polarized light.

The Sun, shown as a bare orb in black and white. Some sunspots speckle the gray surface in black.

DEB Initiative

With a small team, capture telescope images of the total eclipse to help document the moment-by-moment appearance of the Sun and its corona.

A cartoon of a girl with a ponytail, in a crescent shape. She is looking through a telescope an at an eclipse

Eclipse Megamovie

Use a DSLR camera to record dynamics in the solar corona during the total eclipse, or help analyze the images afterward.

Eclipse Soundscapes

How does wildlife respond to a solar eclipse? Record sounds before, during, and after an eclipse to find out!

SunSketcher

Use your phone to help measure the exact shape and size of the Sun by photographing an eclipse phenomenon called Baily’s Beads.

A blue circle, with a cartoon of a globe and a microphone

GLOBE Eclipse

Use GLOBE Observer, the app of The GLOBE Program, and a thermometer to measure air temperature changes and monitor the clouds during the eclipse.

See all of NASA's citizen science projects.

Citizen science is a big part of the Heliophysics Big Year. The Heliophysics Big Year is a global celebration of solar science and the Sun’s influence on Earth and the entire solar system. Join us October 2023 to December 2024 and learn more here.

Want to participate in citizen science during the total solar eclipse on April 8? Learn more about those opportunities on NASA's 2024 total solar eclipse website.

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