Unistellar Community Included In Multiple Scientific Papers

Getting a paper published in a scientific journal is a major achievement for any scientist, giving them the chance to share the new discoveries they’ve made. But you don’t need to have a fancy degree or work at a university to make scientific discoveries. With the right tools, anyone can contribute to science.

In just the past few years, Unistellar Citizen Astronomers have been recognized in multiple scientific publications on exoplanets, space missions and more. That comes thanks to the partnership between Unistellar and the SETI Institute, which gives astronomers access to Unistellar Network data for their research. As research grows in scope, astronomers simply don’t have the resources to make all the observations they need to understand our universe. That’s where Unistellar Network members come in.

A map of member locations around the globe.

Our network is a worldwide community of Citizen Astronomers who use their Unistellar telescopes to collect astronomical data. Collaborating over social media and the messaging platform Slack, observers from different countries strategize ways to gather the best data on asteroids, comets, exoplanets and more. Recent successes include refining the shape of the Lucy mission target asteroid Eurybates and a record-breaking observation of the exoplanet Kepler-167 e.

Future observations can help astronomers discover new exoplanets, get better data on the size and orbit of potentially hazardous Near-Earth Asteroids, and keep an eye on ongoing space missions. Unistellar has lots of resources for Citizen Astronomers – plus, the ease-of-use of the Unistellar telescopes and dedicated app make doing Citizen Astronomy fun and approachable for anyone.

“With the Unistellar Citizen Astronomy community, there is always something new and fun to look at,” says Unistellar Citizen Astronomer Georges Simard in Quebec. “It is an incredible and easy way to learn about astronomy and contribute to real research projects.”

To learn more, check out our index of scientific publications featuring Unistellar Network contributions:

Index of Scientific Publications

Peer-Reviewed Articles

Sicardy, B., et al., Constraints on Trito atmospheric evolution from occultations: 1989-2022, A&A, in press, 2024 https://arxiv.org/abs/2402.02476
Graykowski, A. et al., Faint Comet Detection with Unistellar eVscopes, Research Notes of the AAS, Volume 8, Issue 2, id.41. , 2024 https://iopscience.iop.org/article/10.3847/2515-5172/ad25f9
Pereira, C. L. et al., the two Rings of (50000) Quaoar, A&A, 673 L4, 14, 2023 https://www.aanda.org/articles/aa/full_html/2023/05/aa46365-23/aa46365-23.html
Graykowski, A. et al., Light Curves and Colours of the Ejecta from Dimorphos after the DART impact, Nature 6161, 5957, 461-464, 2023 https://www.nature.com/articles/s41586-023-05852-9
Yoshida, F. et al., Multi-chord observation of stellar occultation by the near-Earth asteroid (3200) Phaethon on October 3, 2021 (UTC) with very high accuracy, Publication of the Astronomical Society of Japan, 75, 1, 2023 https://academic.oup.com/pasj/article/75/1/153/6947807
Lambert, R. et al., Rotation Period Determination for (7335) 1989JA, Minor Planet Bulletin, 50,1, 16-17, 2023 https://articles.adsabs.harvard.edu/full/2023MPBu…50…16L
Peluso, D. O., et al., The Unistellar Exoplanet Campaign: Citizen Science Results and Inherent Education Opportunities, Publications of the Astronomical Society of the Pacific, 2135, 1043, 2023 https://www.nature.com/articles/s41586-023-05852-9
Perrocheau, A., Esposito, T. M., Dalba, P. A., Marchis, F., Avsar, A. M., Carrera, E., Douezy, M., Fukui, K., Gamurot, R., Goto, T.. Guillet, B., Kuossari, P., Laugier, J-M., Lewin, P., Loose, M. A., Manganese, L., Mirwald, B., Mountz, H., Mountz, M., Ostrem, C., Parker, B., Picard, P., Primm, M., Randolph, J., Runge, J., Savonnet, R., Sharon, C. E., Shih, J., Shimizu, M., Silvis, G., Simard, G., Simpson, A., Sivayogan, T., Stein, M., Trudel, D., Tsuchiyama, H., Wagner, K., Will, S, A 16 Hour Transit of Kepler-167 e Observed by the Ground-based Unistellar Telescope Network. The Astrophysical Journal Letters 940.2 (2022): L39. https://iopscience.iop.org/article/10.3847/2041-8213/aca073
Cazeneuve, D., et al., ODNET, The Astrophysical Journal, 165, 1, 11, 2023 https://articles.adsabs.harvard.edu/full/2023MPBu…50…16L
Sibbernsen, K. 2022. Electronic telescopes and their use in astronomy education. The Physics Teacher, 60(5), 394. https://doi.org/10.1119/10.0010401
Barbosa, D., Coelho, B., Bergano, M., Magalhães, C., Mendonça, D., Silva, D., Correia, A.C. M., Pandeirada, J., Ribeiro, V., Esposito, T., Marchis, F., 2022. Cyber-Cosmos: A new citizen science concept in a dark sky destination. Acta Astronaut. 200, 612–619. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.actaastro.2022.09.008
Pearson, K.A., Beichman, C., Fulton, B.J., Esposito, T.M., Zellem, R.T., Ciardi, D.R., Rolfness, J., Engelke, J., Fatahi, T., Zimmerman-Brachman, R., Avsar, A., Bhalerao Varun, D., Boyce, P., Bretton, M., Burnett, A.D., Burt, J., Fowler, M., Gallego, D., Gomez, E., Guillet, B., Hilburn, J., Jongen, Y., Kataria, T., Kokori, A., Kumar, H., Kuossari, P., Lekkas, G., Marchini, A., Meneghelli, N., Ngeow, C.-C., Primm, M., Samantaray, S., Shimizu, M., Silvis, G., Sienkiewicz, F., Swain, V., Tan, J., Tock, K., Wagner, K., Wünsche, A., 2022. Utilizing a global network of telescopes to update the ephemeris for the highly eccentric planet HD 80606 b and to ensure the efficient scheduling of JWST. The Astronomical Journal 164.5 (2022): 178. https://iopscience.iop.org/article/10.3847/1538-3881/ac8dee
Wang, X.-Y., Rice, M., Wang, S., Pu, B., Stefánsson, G., Mahadevan, S., Radzom, B., Giacalone, S., Wu, Z.-Y., Esposito, T.M., Dalba, P.A., Avsar, A., Holden, B., Skiff, B., Polakis, T., Voeller, K., Logsdon, S.E., Klusmeyer, J., Schweiker, H., Wu, D.-H., Beard, C., Dai, F., Lubin, J., Weiss, L.M., Bender, C.F., Blake, C.H., Dressing, C.D., Halverson, S., Hearty, F., Howard, A.W., Huber, D., Isaacson, H., Jackman, J.A. ~G., Llama, J., McElwain, M.W., Rajagopal, J., Roy, A., Robertson, P., Schwab, C., Shkolnik, E.L., Wright, J.T., Laughlin, G., 2022. The Aligned Orbit of WASP-148b, the Only Known Hot Jupiter with a nearby Warm Jupiter Companion, from NEID and HIRES. The Astrophysical Journal Letters 926, L8. https://doi.org/10.3847/2041-8213/ac4f44
Dalba, P.A., Kane, S.R., Dragomir, D., Villanueva, S., Collins, K.A., Jacobs, T.L., LaCourse, D.M., Gagliano, R., Kristiansen, M.H., Omohundro, M., Schwengeler, H.M., Terentev, I.A., Vanderburg, A., Fulton, B., Isaacson, H., Van Zandt, J., Howard, A.W., Thorngren, D.P., Howell, S.B., Batalha, N.M., Chontos, A., Crossfield, I.J. M., Dressing, C.D., Huber, D., Petigura, E.A., Robertson, P., Roy, A., Weiss, L.M., Behmard, A., Beard, C., Brinkman, C.L., Giacalone, S., Hill, M.L., Lubin, J., Mayo, A.W., Močnik, T., Akana Murphy, J.M., Polanski, A.S., Rice, M., Rosenthal, L.J., Rubenzahl, R.A., Scarsdale, N., Turtelboom, E. V, Tyler, D., Benni, P., Boyce, P., Esposito, T.M., Girardin, E., Laloum, D., Lewin, P., Mann, C.R., Marchis, F., Schwarz, R.P., Srdoc, G., Steuer, J., Sivarani, T., Unni, A., Eisner, N.L., Fetherolf, T., Li, Z., Yao, X., Pepper, J., Ricker, G.R., Vanderspek, R., Latham, D.W., Seager, S., Winn, J.N., Jenkins, J.M., Burke, C.J., Eastman, J.D., Lund, M.B., Rodriguez, D.R., Rowden, P., Ting, E.B., Villaseñor, J.N., 2022. The TESS-Keck Survey. VIII. Confirmation of a Transiting Giant Planet on an Eccentric 261 Day Orbit with the Automated Planet Finder Telescope. The Astronomical Journal. 163, 61. https://doi.org/10.3847/1538-3881/ac415b
Marchis, F., Malvache, A., Marfisi, L., Borot, A., Arbouch, E., 2020. Unistellar eVscopes: Smart, portable, and easy-to-use telescopes for exploration, interactive learning, and citizen astronomy. Acta Astronaut. 166, 23–28. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.actaastro.2019.09.028
Zellem, R.T., Pearson, K.A., Blaser, E., Fowler, M., Ciardi, D.R., Biferno, A., Massey, B., Marchis, F., Baer, R., Ball, C., Chasin, M., Conley, M., Dixon, S., Fletcher, E., Hernandez, S., Nair, S., Perian, Q., Sienkiewicz, F., Tock, K., Vijayakumar, V., Swain, M.R., Roudier, G.M., Bryden, G., Conti, D.M., Hill, D.H., Hergenrother, C.W., Dussault, M., Kane, S.R., Fitzgerald, M., Boyce, P., Peticolas, L., Gee, W., Cominsky, L., Zimmerman-Brachman, R., Smith, D., Creech-Eakman, M.J., Engelke, J., Iturralde, A., Dragomir, D., Jovanovic, N., Lawton, B., Arbouch, E., Kuchner, M., Malvache, A., 2020. Utilizing Small Telescopes Operated by Citizen Scientists for Transiting Exoplanet Follow-up. Publ. Astron. Soc. Pacific 132, 054401. https://doi.org/10.1088/1538-3873/ab7ee7

Conference Proceedings

Marchis, F., Esposito, T., Lambert, R., Dalba, P., 2022. New Astronomy with the Unistellar Network, in: IAC 2022 Congress Proceedings, 73rd International Astronautical Congress (IAC), Paris, France.
Lambert, R. A., Marchis, F., Asencio, J., Blaclard, G., Sgro, L. A., Giorgini, J. D., Plavchan, P., White, T., Verveen, A., Goto, T., Kuossari, P., Sethu, N., Loose, M. A., Will, S., Sibbernsen, K., Pickering, J. W., Randolph, J., Fukui, K., Huet, P., Guillet, B., Clerget, O., Stahl, S., Yoblonsky, N., Lauvernier, M., Matsumura, T., Yamato, M., Laugier, J.-M., Brodt-Vilain, O., Espudo, A., Kukita, R., Iida, S., Kardel, S., Green, D., Tikkanen, P., Douvas, A., Billiani, M., Knight, G., Ryno, M., Simard, G., Knight, R., Primm, M., Wildhagen, B., Poncet, J., Frachon, T., Shimizu, M., Jackson, A., Parker, B., Redfern, G., Nikiforov, P., Friday, E., Lincoln, K., Sweitzer, J., Mitsuoka, R., Cabral, K., Katterfeld, A., Fairfax, M., 2022. Citizen science astronomy with a network of small telescopes: the launch and deployment of JWST, in: Marshall, H.K., Spyromilio, J., Usuda, T. (Eds.), Ground-Based and Airborne Telescopes IX, Society of Photo-Optical Instrumentation Engineers (SPIE) Conference Series. p. 121822Z. https://doi.org/10.1117/12.2628678
Marchis, F., Esposito, T., Peluso, D., Blaclard, G., Asencio, J., Megowan-Romanowicz, C., Pennypacker, C., Carter, B., 2021. Outreach and scientific Results With The Largest Network of Backyard Astronomers — IAF Digital Library, in: IAC 2021 Congress Proceedings, 72nd International Astronautical Congress (IAC), Dubai, United Arab Emirates.
Barbosa, D., Coelho, B., Bergano, M., Magalhães, C., Mendonça, D., Silva, D., Correia, A., Pandeirada, J., Ribeiro, V., Esposito, T., Marchis, F., 2021. Cyber-Cosmos: a new Citizen science concept in a Dark Sky Destination — IAF Digital Library, in: IAC 2021 Congress Proceedings, 72nd International Astronautical Congress (IAC), Dubai, United Arab Emirates.

Conference Abstracts

Graykowski A., Lambert R. A., Marchis F., Cazeneuve D., Dalba P. A., et al. 2023. Citizen Science Observations of the Ejecta from Dimorphos after the DART Impact. in: Asteroids, Comets, Meteors Conference Abstracts. #2297
Graykowski, A., Lambert, R.A., Marchis, F., Esposito, T. M., Sgro, L. A., Weaver, I., Peluso, D. O’C., Dalba, P. A. 2023. Monitoring Variable Cometary Activity with Citizen Science Using the Unistellar Network. in: AAVSO 112 Annual Meeting Abstracts
Graykowski, A. and Marchis, F. 2023. Monitoring Cometary Activity and Characterizing the Outbursts of 29P/Schwassmann–Wachmann and 12P/Pons-Brooks using Citizen Science Observations. in: AGU Fall Meeting Abstracts. pp. P44B-07
Hanuš, J et al., 2023 Stellar Occultation by Asteroids: the contribution of Unistellar’s network of citizen astromnomers, 55th Annual Meeting of the Division for Planetary Sciences, 312.04, Vol. 55,8
Bruno Guillet, Tom Esposito, Arin Avsar, Franck Marchis, Daniel Peluso, and 130 citizen astronomers, 2022. Détections d’exoplanètes par des astronomes amateurs du réseau Unistellar, Posters aux journées 2022 de la SF2A, Besançon (France) Juin 2022
Bruno Guillet, Franck Marchis, Joé Asencio, Ryan Lambert, Paul Dalba, Guillaume Blaclard, and several citizen astronomers, 2022. Détections d’astéroïdes et d’engins spatiaux par des astronomes amateurs du réseau Unistellar, Posters aux journées 2022 de la SF2A, Besançon (France) Juin 2022
Esposito, T., Avsar, A., Marchis, F., Dalba, P., Peluso, D., 2022. Hot and Cold Jupiters: Exoplanet Transit Results from the Unistellar Citizen Scientist Network, in: American Astronomical Society Meeting Abstracts, American Astronomical Society Meeting Abstracts. p. 339.07.
Hanus, J., Marchis, F., Asencio, J., Durech, J., 2021. Lightcurve observations of near-Earth asteroids with the Unistellar’s network of citizen astronomers, in: AGU Fall Meeting Abstracts. pp. SY55C-0361.
Marchis, F., Esposito, T., Asencio, J., Klavans, V., Blaclard, G., Peluso, D.O., Megowan-Romanowicz, C., Pennypacker, C., 2021. Citizen Science and Scientific Results from the Worlds Largest Network of Backyard Astronomers, in: AGU Fall Meeting Abstracts. pp. SY55A-04.
Hanus, J., Durech, J., Marchis, F., Asencio, J., Blaclard, G., 2021. Physical Properties of Near-Earth Asteroids, in: AGU Fall Meeting Abstracts. pp. P33A-02.
Cazeneuve, D., Marchis, F., Blaclard, G., Asencio, J., Martin, V., 2021. Detection of Occultation Events by Machine Learning for the Unistellar Network, in: AGU Fall Meeting Abstracts. pp. P11B-12.
Marchis, F., Asencio, J., Peluso, D., Durech, J., Vereš, P., Blaclard, G., Demuys, I., Nachury, L., 2021. The Contribution of the Unistellar Network for Planetary Defense: Empowering Crowd-sourcing Astronomy, in: 7th IAA Planetary Defense Conference. p. 271.
Dunham, D., Dunham, J., Buie, M., Preston, S., Herald, D., Farnocchia, D., Giorgini, J., Arai, T., Sato, I., Nolthenius, R., Irwin, J., Degenhardt, S., Marshall, S., Moore, J., Whitehurst, S., Venable, R., Skrutskie, M., Marchis, F., Ye, Q., Tanga, P., Aissa, D.B., Grigahcene, Z., 2021. Accurate NEO Orbits from Occultation Observations, in: 7th IAA Planetary Defense Conference. p. 37.
Esposito, T. M., Avsar, A., Peluso, D., Marchis, F., Santana, P., Klavans, V., Nachury, L., 2021. TESS Planet Candidate Follow-up by Citizen Scientists in the Global Unistellar eVscope Network, in: Posters from the TESS Science Conference II (TSC2), held virtually, id.155. https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.5131297.
Marchis, F., Peluso, D., Esposito, T., Megowan-Romanowicz, C., Pennypacker, C., Unistellar Science Team, 2021. A Large Citizen Science Astronomy Network for All of Us, in: American Astronomical Society Meeting Abstracts, American Astronomical Society Meeting Abstracts. p. 412.06.
Esposito, T. M., Marchis, F., Peluso, D., Avsar, A., Zellem, R. T., 2021. Transiting Exoplanet Followup by Citizen Scientists with the Global Unistellar eVscope Network, in: American Astronomical Society Meeting Abstracts, American Astronomical Society Meeting Abstracts. p. 239.03.
Asencio, J., Marchis, F., Esposito, T., Veres, P., 2020. Planetary Defense With a Network of Compact, Smart and Low-Cost Digital Telescopes, in: AGU Fall Meeting Abstracts. pp. NH037-0008.
Marchis, F., Esposito, T., Asencio, J., Demuys, I., Peluso, D., Veres, P., Zellem, R., Nachury, L., 2020. Enabling and Empowering Citizen Science in Astronomy With a Network of Small Digital & Smart Telescopes, in: AGU Fall Meeting Abstracts. pp. ED025-06.
Marchis, F., Esposito, T., Asencio, J., Demuys, I., Peluso, D., Veres, P., Zellem, R., Hanus, J., Nachury, L., 2020. First Results With a Network of Small Digital & Smart Telescopes: Citizen Science For Astronomy, in: AAS/Division for Planetary Sciences Meeting Abstracts, AAS/Division for Planetary Sciences Meeting Abstracts. p. 413.02.
Marchis, F., Esposito, T., Malvache, A., Peluso, D., Vereš, P., Hanuš, J., 2020. Unistellar: The largest citizen science astronomy network for all of us — IAF Digital Library, in: IAC 2020 Congress Proceedings, 71st International Astronautical Congress (IAC) — IAC CyberSpace Edition , 12–14 October 2020.
Marchis, F., Arbouch, E., Peluso, D., Harman, P. K., Malvache, A., Bertin, E., Zellem, R., Veres, P., 2019. Citizen Science Astronomy with the Unistellar Network: From Planetary Defense to Exoplanet Transits, in: AGU Fall Meeting Abstracts. pp. ED14A-03.
Marchis, F., Arbouch, E., Bertin, E., Malvache, A., Vereš, P., Zellem, R.T., 2019. Citizen Science Astronomy with the Unistellar Network: From Planetary Defense to Exoplanet Transits, in: EPSC-DPS Joint Meeting 2019. p. EPSC-DPS2019-898.