NASA wants people to help identify 500,000 galaxy images — Here's how one can join

NASA has launched a new project that lets everyday people team up with scientists to explore space. The goal is simple: help sort through 500,000 galaxy images taken by the powerful James Webb Space Telescope . These images show galaxies from billions of years ago and could help scientists learn how galaxies form and change over time. And you don’t need to be a space expert to take part– anyone can join in. By helping, you’ll be part of real scientific research that was once only done by astronomers.

Through the Galaxy Zoo citizen science project, NASA is inviting people to take part in this massive space study. The idea is simple: volunteers look at images of galaxies taken by the James Webb Telescope and answer a few basic questions, like whether a galaxy looks round or has spiral arms. These small tasks help scientists sort and understand different galaxy shapes, which is key to learning how galaxies form and change over time.


Christine Macmillan, a volunteer from Aberdeen, Scotland, spoke to NASA about the thrill of participating, “This is a great opportunity to see images from the newest space telescope. Galaxies at the edge of our universe are being seen for the first time, just as they are starting to form. Just sign up and answer simple questions about the shape of the galaxy that you are seeing. Anyone can do it, ages 10 and up.”

What makes this project even more exciting is that the galaxies you help classify could be some of the farthest ever seen. Their light has traveled for billions of years to reach us, giving a glimpse into what the universe looked like long ago.


Classifying galaxies might seem like a simple task, but the science behind it is anything but. By looking at the shapes and features of these galaxies, scientists can learn how galaxies are formed, how they interact, and how they change over time.

Thanks to the James Webb Telescope’s powerful ability to capture light from some of the most distant galaxies, researchers can actually look back in time and study the early universe– something older telescopes couldn’t do.

This research helps scientists understand the full life cycle of galaxies, from how they formed stars to how they grew and changed. With Webb’s data, we now have a chance to explore the universe’s earliest chapters like never before.

The Galaxy Zoo project has been a great example of citizen science since it began in 2007. It started with just a few galaxy images from the Sloan Digital Sky Survey, but has now grown into a global effort involving millions of volunteers. With data from major space telescopes like Hubble and the European Space Agency’s Euclid, Galaxy Zoo has already helped scientists learn a lot about the universe.


Now, with the release of new images from the James Webb Space Telescope, the project is entering a whole new phase. These images offer an incredibly detailed view of galaxies, allowing volunteers to classify them in ways that weren’t possible before.

As NASA explained, “With Webb, we can spot galaxies at greater distances than ever before. We’re seeing what some of the earliest galaxies ever detected look like– for the first time.”