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FIGURE 4.4 Image of a new type of extragalactic object, dubbed a ``Green Pea” discovered by Galaxy Zoo
citizen scientist Hanny van Arkel. The object’s color is the result of a green oxygen emission line produced
by massive young stars. Credit: Dan Smith (Liverpool John Moores) and Peter Herbert (University of
Hertfordshire). Image obtained using the Isaac Newton Telescope, Roque de los Muchachos, La Palma.
Astronomers have seized opportunities to be innovators in public outreach. New approaches to
promoting public engagement in science include “citizen science,” in which astronomy is brought to wide
audiences via large databases available on the internet, and amateur scientists actively participate in the
analysis of astronomical data 2 (Figure 4-4). The continued growth of astronomical datasets will allow
further opportunities for public involvement over the coming decade.
The recently concluded International Year of Astronomy (IYA) 2009, initiated by the
International Astronomical Union and UNESCO, and endorsed by the United Nations and the United
States Congress, was a global effort consisting of nearly 150 countries participating in astronomy
activities on all scales, from local to international. The U.S. effort involved tens of thousands of people.
The year-long enterprise had several focus projects, including the production and distribution of well over
100,000 telescopes designed to reproduce the seeing power that Galileo 3 had when he first turned his
telescope skyward; over 1000 public observing events in 70 countries; and the generation of special IYA
websites by NASA and similar international organizations. The culmination of the U.S. effort took place
on October 7, 2009, when President Obama hosted a star party for local school children on the White
House lawn (see Figure 4-5).
The federal government provides significant support for many of these informal education and
outreach activities. For 15 years, NASA has devoted roughly one percent of major mission costs to
Education and Public Outreach (EPO). It has created imaginative websites and activities involving the use
of astronomical data for students, teachers and the public. The NSF supports astronomy education
through EPO budget allocations at its observatories and technology centers, as well as through its
Directorate for Education and Human Resources (EHR) and through specific grants programs, especially
those to young people such as the CAREER and AAPF awards. Over six percent of research grant
2 One such project, Galaxy Zoo, enables on-line users to classify galaxies from Sloan Digital Sky Survey
images; to date more than 230,000 registered users have analyzed data, and a few have produced unique new
discoveries (see figure 4-3). The success of Galaxy Zoo has inspired the creation of similar Citizen Science projects
to analyze imaging from space missions to the Moon and Mars, and the model is being duplicated in other fields of
science.
3 These are known as Galileoscopes, with 110,000 produced and delivered in 2009 and 70,000 more ordered for
delivery in the first quarter of 2010.
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