Muon Particle Hunters
Find elusive muon particles disguised as gamma rays using a clustering approach developed by astronomers. Sounds complicated but it's not. Anyone can join the cutting edge of particle science!
Astronomers using the VERITAS telescopes to detect some of the highest-energy photons in the Universe need your help! These photons are gamma-rays that originate in astrophysical environments like the expanding blast waves thrown out by supernova explosions, or from powerful streams of material that flow from the cores of active galaxies at speeds close to that of light. Muons (a particle like an electron, only heavier) are a prominent background contaminant when observing very-high-energy gamma rays on earth. They leave a distinctive ring-like shape making them obvious to the human eye, but incomplete or truncated rings can appear very gamma-ray-like to automatic analysis algorithms. We need your help to identify camera images that contain muon rings so we can teach computers to better identify such images and efficiently filter out those pesky muons that are masquerading as gamma rays.
How do I get started? Just go the the Zooniverse Project Page.
How much time will this take? This is a low time commitment. Spend as little or as much time as you like identifying Muons!
How do I expand this narrative arc? If Physics or astronomy is in your narrative arc, consider building on this interest with one of the following:
Take your interest further and build your own low cost Muon detector at home! For simple step by step directions go to the Cosmic Watch website. The cost? Only around $100!
See our post about becoming a Planet Hunter and looking fo the next Planet Earth
If you are ready for a bigger time commitment (and for greater impact), become a ham radio enthusiast and organize a time for your science class to Talk To Astronauts on the International Space Station! Really!
HOT TIP: This project alone is unlikely to deliver much independent punch to your resume, but it could spark a new interest, provide a launching off point for a school paper or a compelling college essay or it could expand and deepen an existing narrative arc. Ideally you would build on this project with some larger and more time-intensive commitments in these interest areas like building your own Muon Detector at home! Now THAT’s impressive!