Crowdfunding Astronomy Research with Google Sky

TL;DR

This paper describes the Pale Blue Dot Project, a crowdfunding initiative that successfully engaged the public to support Kepler mission research, demonstrating an innovative model for science funding and outreach.

Contribution

It introduces a novel crowdfunding approach for astronomy research that has sustained support for Kepler data analysis over seven years.

Findings

Successfully engaged the public in science funding

Supported international research teams financially

Demonstrated viability of crowdfunding in scientific research

Abstract

For nearly four years, NASA's Kepler space telescope searched for planets like Earth around more than 150,000 stars similar to the Sun. In 2008 with in-kind support from several technology companies, our non-profit organization established the Pale Blue Dot Project, an adopt-a-star program that supports scientific research on the stars observed by the Kepler mission. To help other astronomy educators conduct successful fundraising efforts, I describe how this innovative crowdfunding program successfully engaged the public over the past seven years to help support an international team in an era of economic austerity.