For some time we have been purposefully calling this ‘Project IX’. This was done to prevent us defining the project before it has really started up. We also thought that you all might have some thoughts on the matter. Hence, we’re asking for suggestions for a name for Project IX. What we’re not going to call it is ‘Star Formation Zoo’. That is one of the names this project has had internally, but we...

Some of the most beautiful structures in Spitzer GLIMPSE data are the bubbles. Bubbles are regions of gas, usually found around newly formed stars, often with shells of material surrounding them (the green 8 μm emission above). These appear as rings in the GLIMPSE images and can vary in appearance from strikingly prominent to intriguingly faint. They can be anything from complete circles and ellipses, to fractured, fragmented...

A current hot topic in star-formation science is the study of Infrared Dark Clouds (IRDCs). These are really dense molecular clouds that appear dark even in infrared surveys. For a while, we hoped that Project IX would be our avenue to exploring IRDCs. However, as you’ll see in this blog post, not every idea become a reality at the Zooniverse – for a good reason. Here’s the story of the IRDC project that never was. A Bit...

It’s good to see this blog up and running. This is the first time we’ve written so explicitly about what we’re up to in planning and creating a Zooniverse project, and it’ll be interesting to see how it develops. We’ve normally kept quiet, not out of any desire to be secretive (well, maybe a little – we do enjoy surprising you) but because it’s worth it in order to increase our chances of getting...

Star formation is one of the most important processes at work in the cosmos. The atoms that make up our planet and ourselves were made in the centres of stars, billions of year ago. To study star formation is to begin to understand the origin and make-up of the Galaxy and the Universe at large. The mass distribution of stars and the rate at which they are born determines the nature and evolution of galaxies, such as our own Milky Way...

The ninth Zooniverse project is underway and this time we’re going to get you all involved from the very beginning. In the coming days and weeks we will begin blogging about a whole new Zoo – and you can help! We’ll be looking to enlist everybody’s help to get this latest project off the ground so stay tuned to this blog for...