Welcome to Rubin Comet Catchers! Update November 12, 2025.
We have a sister Rubin project! Check out Rubin Difference Detectives.
SPECIAL NOTE: Check out PI Colin Orion Chandler being interviewed about Interstellar Comet 3I/ATLAS on EarthSky! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1a0zplLaXVQ
We have LSSTCam images! And they feature the interstellar comet 3I/ATLAS!! This first set will appear as part of the training images, and you’ll get a note when you see it! All other Rubin images are from the NSF-DOE Vera C. Rubin Observatory's Data Preview 1 (DP1) dataset, using the special commissioning camera, which is just a small taste of what's to come! As a result, we expected everything to be classified pretty quickly, so the number of classifications per image is set high to give everyone a chance to participate. If you want fresh data (or we’re out), please visit our sister project Active Asteroids for a great opportunity to discover active asteroids and other comets in Dark Energy Camera data! Note too that here in Rubin Comet Catchers, we have known comet images from the Active Asteroids project as part of our training dataset!
Also, this project recently migrated onto Zooniverse’s new architecture. For details, see here.
Join the hunt for comets in the most ambitious astronomical survey ever undertaken!
Learn moreWe show volunteers one or more images of known small solar system bodies (like asteroids) and ask whether or not they see evidence of activity in the form of a tail or coma (dust cloud). There are "training" images mixed in that were created from Dark Energy Camera (DECam) data, and all the rest are from Rubin.
Zooniverse Talk
Chat with the research team and other volunteers!
Rubin Comet Catchers Statistics
View more statsKeep track of the progress you and your fellow volunteers have made on this project.
Every click counts! Join Rubin Comet Catchers's community to complete this project and help researchers produce important results. Click "View more stats" to see even more stats.
By the numbers
Message from the researcher
Rubin Observatory, with the help of Rubin Comet Catchers, is poised to discover an unprecedented number of comets, active asteroids, and other rare comet-like bodies!
OrionNAUAbout Rubin Comet Catchers
Rubin Comet Catchers is a Citizen Science project that invites volunteers to help discover comets hiding in plain sight. By scanning images from the NSF-DOE Vera C. Rubin Observatory’s Legacy Survey of Space and Time (LSST)—the largest astronomical survey ever attempted—participants will look for telltale signs of activity, like faint tails or surrounding comae, that reveal the presence of volatile ices.
These icy bodies are more than just cosmic curiosities. They carry vital clues about the origin of Earth’s water and the building blocks of life. By identifying active comets among thousands of small solar system objects, volunteers will help scientists explore how planetary systems form and evolve—including our own.
No prior experience is needed—just your eyes, curiosity, and a few minutes to help uncover the secrets of the solar system.
Rubin Comet Catchers is a NASA Grantee!
You can see all the other citizen science projects sponsored by NASA that need your help, or you can find even more ways of getting involved in NASA Science at the website here!
Background Image Credit: NSF-DOE Vera C. Rubin Observatory