Disk Detective

Disk Detective is the first NASA led and funded collaboration project with Zooniverse. It is NASA's largest crowdsourcing citizen science project aiming at engaging the general public in search of stars, which are surrounded by dust-rich circumstellar disks, where planets usually dwell and are formed. The principal investigator is Marc Kuchner. Disk Detective was launched in January 2014, and is expected to continue till 2017. The public (aka the users) is invited to search through images captured by space agency's Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer (WISE)) and other sky surveys: the Two Micron All Sky Survey (2MASS), the Digitized Sky Survey (DSS) and the Sloan Digital Sky Survey (SDSS). The images in Disk Detective have all been pre-selected to be extra bright at wavelengths where circumstellar dust emits thermal radiation. They are at mid-infrared, near-infrared and optical wavelengths. Disks are not the only heavenly objects that appear bright at infrared wavelengths; active galactic nuclei, galaxies, asteroids and interstellar dust clouds also emit at these wavelengths. Computer algorithms can't distinguish the difference, so it is necessary to examine all images by 'eye' to make sure that the selected candidates are stars with disks, and not other celestial objects.