The internet has become a priceless tool for the citizen-science movement, in which private citizens all over the world can make meaningful contributions to science.

With as little as a computer and some curiosity, you can help scientists determine targets for space telescopes, or look for signs of life on Kepler planets. Some projects, like the famous SETI@home application, simply use your computer's down-time to sift through vast quantities of data — no user input required. Others, like GalaxyZoo, ask you to look at pictures and classify objects based on shape or size.

For more advanced projects including those requiring more powerful telescopes, CCD cameras, or greater technical expertise, check our our list of amateur research programs. With the wealth of projects out there, there is sure to be something that's a good fit for you.

Here is a list of some of the projects we find most interesting. This list was last updated on July 27, 2012.

Agent Exoplanet: Search for exoplanets using data from the Las Cumbres Observatory



Be A Martian: Get a passport to Mars and help NASA identify and measure craters, mountains, and other Martian features


Citizen Sky: Help gather information on the eclipsing binary variable star epsilon Aurigae



Constellation: Let scientists use the spare time on your computer to do calculations for aerospace simulations


Cosmology@Home: Distributed-computing project that tests theories about the genesis of the universe


Einstein@Home: Free time on your computer can help astrophysicists find weak pulsar signals in data from LIGO


GalaxyZoo: Classify galaxies based on shape, using imagery taken from the Hubble Space Telescope


The Great World-Wide Star Count: Annual international star-counting event



HiWish: Make suggeestions to scientists at the High-Resolution Imaging Science Experiment about what Mars features to photograph next


Ice Investigators: Help determine the New Horizons spacecraft's final target in the Kuiper Belt


Mapper: Help NASA scientists learn more about where to look for life on Mars by studying lakes in British Columbia


MeteorCounter: App for iPhone, iPad, and iPod Touch that lets you count and categorize shooting stars


The Milky Way Project: Find "dust bubbles" in the Milky Way to help scientists learn about star formation and galactic evolution


Moon Mappers: Help researchers tag craters on the moon, helping with several science missions



MoonZoo: Help classify the surface of the moon using imagery from the Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter


Planet Hunters: Search for planets orbiting extra-solar stars by examining stars' light curves



RadioJOVE: Analyze radio emissions from Jupiter, the Sun, and the Milky Way



SCOPE: Be the first to measure and classify an uncategorized star



SETI@home: Let scientists use your computer's free time to look for signs of extraterrestrial intelligence in radio signals


SETLive: Use data from the Allen Telescope Array to search for signs of life on planets found by the Kepler mission


Solar Storm Watch: Watch for solar storms in data coming from the STEREO sun-monitoring satellites


Stardust@home: Help locate tiny particles of interstellar dust that the Stardust spacecraft picked up from the comet Wild 2 in 2004


TheSkyNet: Put your computer's idle time to use looking through radio-wave data from distant stars and galaxies


TomatoSphere:Student-targeted project seeking to help scientists understand some of the issues related to long-term space travel