New discoveries in the Galaxy and its neighbourhood
are all well and good, but surely it's not
like just anyone can get involved?
Well, the Gaia spacecraft is expected to discover
hundreds of thousands of new and potentially
interesting celestial objects.
Including supernovae, exoplanets, asteroids,
quasars, white dwarfs, and many others.
In fact so many things that they're pretty
much depending on others to get involved.
For a start, you'll be able to get science
alerts whenever Gaia notices an object has
changed brightness - with coordinates, so
you can have a look and let us know before
they vanish forever.
And you'll be able to get much more involved
than that.
Through the website groups will be able to
take photographs by controlling high-tech
telescope or using their own at home.
Then, comparing the picture to other data
available you'll be able to have a go at working
out what it is and report it back to the Gaia
scientists.
You may even be the first person to spot something
really interesting and you may forever be
known as the person who first discovered a
supernova or something even more exciting.
But either way, you'll be learning about the
Galaxy and beyond, and adding to our overall
knowledge of the universe.
