NASA Needs You: 6 Ways to Help an Astronomer | Wired Science | Wired.com

NASA Needs You: 6 Ways to Help an Astronomer | Wired Science | Wired.com:

"Space is a big place, and even with their giant telescopes, astronomers just can’t cover it all. This is where you come in. Yes, you.

Astronomy is one of the few scientific fields where amateur scientists can, and frequently do, make significant contributions. But now space scientists are increasingly also looking to people with little or no training for help with their research. Sometimes they are looking for free labor for tasks that humans can still do better than computers, like identifying different types of galaxies. Other times it’s numbers of eyes on the sky or feet on the ground they’re after. But more and more, they are finding ways to get regular citizens involved."

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In high school, I was one of a few teenage amateur astronomers admitted to the American Association of Variable Star Observers. I was assigned three variable stars to keep tabs on, and I religiously sent my brightness estimations to Harvard Observatory as required. I considered this a very big deal. Well, I still do ha ha. So if you are interested in astronomy and have some time, check this out.