Establishing a Network of Citizen Scientists to Measure Trans-Neptunian Objects (Invited)

The Research and Education Cooperative Occultation Network (RECON) is an innovative citizen science project to determine the sizes of trans-Neptunian objects (TNOs) and in particular cold classical Kuiper Belt Objects (KBOs). The project currently involves a pilot network of fourteen communities located north and south of Reno, Nevada (from Tulelake, CA to Tonopah, NV) that have been provided with telescope and camera equipment to record occultation data when TNOs and main belt asteroids pass in front of background stars. Current uncertainties in TNO positions and stellar astrometry limit accurate occultation predictions for TNOs. To address this challenge, RECON will establish a 'picket-fence' of observers every 50 km spread over a 2,000-km baseline. When fully scaled, RECON will involve over forty communities stretching across the Western United States from its border with Canada to Mexico. See map for current telescope sites (green and yellow), planned telescope sites (blue), and shadow path for a 100 km object. The pilot RECON network has been established as a proof-of-concept study for this project. Teachers, amateur astronomers, and community members from California and Nevada were recruited via emails, phone, and face-to-face visits during two trips in Fall 2012. Telescope and camera equipment was tested and delivered to each community in Winter 2013. In April, representatives from each community brought this equipment to a four-day intensive training workshop in Carson City. Since the workshop, RECON has conducted five coordinated occultation campaigns involving Pluto and several main belt asteroids to demonstrate the effectiveness and integrity of the network. In addition to presenting results from these observation campaigns, we will describe lessons learned about recruitment, preparation, and retention of citizen scientists from rural communities to conduct authentic astronomy research. We will also discuss plans for scaling up the full RECON network. Finally, we will frame the RECON project in the broader context of citizen science efforts. This material is based upon work supported by the National Science Foundation under Grant No. AST-1212159. Any opinions, findings and conclusions or recommendations expressed in this material are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the views of the National Science Foundation (NSF).