Jarod Despain,

Sponsor or Client: 

Title:

Active Asteroids : A Citizen Science Project

Abstract:

Active asteroids are a class of asteroids that exhibit comet-like appearances, like having coma, tails, or any other visual ques that mass is being expelled from the asteroid. Understanding what these asteroids are composed of can help to answer a multitude of questions on the origins of water on Earth, to the current distributions of water within the solar system. With fewer than 30 active asteroids having been found since 1949 this project utilizes citizen scientists to sift through the vast amount of data in search of possible asteroid candidates showing activity. To date the project has contributed to the discovery of a handful of active asteroids.