Finished! Looks like this project is out of data at the moment!
Welcome to Rubin Comet Catchers! Update 3 September 2026: Thanks for your super-FAST comet classifications of Rubin data! Wow! And great news: we unearthed MORE special datasets from Rubin’s Early Data Preview 2 data! By popular demand, we are releasing a limited edition workflow for identifying near-Earth objects (NEOs) in Rubin data! These trailed sources — lovingly called sausages — are important to understand for planetary defense, and they can have comet tails too! And don’t worry, comet fans — we also have new images of Centaurs and other populations coming up or already online! All of these are actual Rubin images that the science team figured out a clever way to get at more science! Just how much and what is in there is up to you to discover… we’re super-excited!
Thanks, everyone, for all your hard work! You can always check out this YouTube video featuring Colin on a show he hosts about the upcoming Rubin Observatory and the Legacy Survey of Space and Time! It features Citizen Science, and Clare Higgs of Rubin Education and Public Outreach presents, too! Thanks again, everyone! We cannot do this without you!
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!
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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