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You will be asked to classify figures of the detected events into one of a the pre-determined classes.
Please check the field guide to see how to classify events.
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Message from the researcher
With Cosmic Cataclysms, and your help, we are able to search the unknown to find types of explosions that have never before been seen in the Universe.
Ryan RiddenAbout Cosmic Cataclysms
The Universe produces a wide range of "transient" astronomical events: signals visible only for a moment, before fading away forever. Exploding stars, massive neutron stars, and black holes are predicted to power the most fleeting of these events. Discovering and understanding new fast transients can therefore elucidate the extreme physics behind the lives and deaths of these astronomical objects.
With lifetimes far less than a day, rapid transients are challenging to detect from the ground. We use data from NASA's TESS space telescope, in conjunction with a new detection pipeline (TESSELLATE), to look for changes in the sky that would otherwise be missed.
As a volunteer, you can contribute to Cosmic Cataclysms by examining the events detected by our pipeline and classifying them based on changes in their appearance and brightness. As these detections span from asteroids to supernovae, you'll get familiar with a wide range of objects, and you might be the first person to see something new and interesting flash in the night sky.