KUALA LUMPUR:Apadilangit launches Galaxy Cruise, an astronomy based global citizen science project initiated by the National Astronomical Observatory of Japan (NAOJ), ushering in the New Year inviting Malaysians to set sail on a cruise to explore the cosmic ocean of galaxies with a click of a mouse.

The virtual launch of the citizen science project on Friday (January 1, 2021) which took place over Facebook and YouTube platforms was graced by NAOJ Project Coordinator Kumiko Usuda-Sato.

Usuda-Sato said that citizen science projects enable members of the general public to contribute and undertake scientific work and help professional astronomers or scientists in their work.

National Astronomical Observatory of Japan (NAOJ) Project Coordinator Kumiko Usuda-Sato alongside Apadilangit founders Hafez Murtza and Amirul Hazim during the virtual launch of the Galaxy Cruise citizen science project. Photo: Apadilangit FB screenshot

Through this project she added, “People will be able to make use of big data from the Subaru telescope in Hawaii to contribute to the understanding of how galaxies are formed and how galaxies evolve.”

Usuda-Sato also said that people will be able to enjoy the sight of the universe through the high quality of vast cosmic images taken by the telescope.

NAOJ is an astronomical research organisation which has several facilities in Japan, as well as an observatory in Hawaii where their 8.2 meter flagship Subaru telescope is.

Researchers have been able to observe many objects such as the distant galaxies to reveal the dark matter distribution by taking advantage of the Subaru telescope.

The NAOJ website describes that the telescope is mounted with Hyper Suprime-Cam (HSC) and that, “It offers an ultra wide field view equivalent to the 9 of the size of the full Moon. Total pixel number is more than 87 million with 116 of highly sensitive CCDs.”

The Subaru Telescope in the National Astronomical Observatory of Japan, located at the Mauna Kea Observatory in Hawaii. Photo: NAOJ

Hafez Murtaza, founder of the astronomy and space science outreach organisation Apadilangit on the significance of this project for Malaysians also said, “With this citizen science project, everyday Malaysians can utilize real data captured by the sophisticated telescope and help professional astronomers in their exploration of the vast number of galaxies in the outer space as citizen scientists or astronomers.”

He also hopes that many Malaysian students, teachers and the general public will take part in this citizen science project as he believes “this would help develop scientific thinking among participants and this can foster a more scientific society and generation.”

This project would essentially allow many people from the public to become citizen astronomers where they will be able to identify the types and features of the galaxy after undergoing three basic lessons on the project website.

People taking part in the project for the next 10 days until January 11, 2021 will be part of the “Classify 1000 Galaxies in 1 Month” campaign.

Malaysians, get onboard and set sail for the cosmic ocean.