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The Sloan Digital Sky Survey (SDSS-II) is the most ambitious astronomical survey ever undertaken. When completed, it will provide detailed images covering more than a quarter of the sky, and a three-dimensional map of millions of galaxies and quasars.

Your job is very simple! You need to complete an on line tutorialÌý where you will practice classifying galaxies. Then, you will take a short trial to test your skills. If you don't pass the trial, you can try again. Once you pass the trial, all you need to do is look out for patterns that look like galaxies.

Galaxies come in two main categories," explained team member Daniel Thomas of Portsmouth University. "In spiral galaxies, like the Milky Way, most stars follow circular orbits and move in the same direction, giving the galaxy a flattened, frisbee-like shape. In elliptical galaxies, on the other hand, stars move on randomly oriented, elongated paths, so the galaxy as a whole has a football-like shape. "

Saturn and and one of it's moons

"Computers can do this classification automatically, but humans are far more accurate," said Thomas. "It's like trying to distinguish male and female faces - no computer algorithm will do this as accurately as a person, because we are much better at identifying the most important clues."

Giving individual attention to a million galaxies takes many pairs of eyes, especially as every galaxy must be classified by multiple people to ensure reliability.

If you would like more information on how to get involved please fill out the form below and I'll send you the details.