Galaxy Zoo

For over a decade, regular folks like you and me have used Galaxy Zoo to help explore and classify galaxies, helping astronomers understand a few of  the hundred billion galaxies sprinkled throughout the observable Universe. 

And each galaxy holds billions of stars!  I bet there is alien life all over the place.

Galaxy Zoo says:

"Each large galaxy has at its heart a massive black hole, and there is growing evidence that as matter falls towards these central black holes, it can have a dramatic effect on its surroundings; the matter is heated to enormous temperatures, glowing brightly in high-energy parts of the electromagnetic spectrum such as the x-ray. There might also be powerful jets of material launched from close to the black hole (though not, of course, from the black hole itself) at close to the speed of light. The combination of these jets and the effect of the radiation sometimes heats or expels gas from the galaxy, preventing - for a time, at least - further star formation."

I really enjoy Galaxy Zoo, and I like the idea that I am helping make discoveries.

More info here: https://www.zooniverse.org/projects/zookeeper/galaxy-zoo

If you discover a galaxy, tell about your experiences at

RamoneRocketeer -at- gmail -dot- com.