Citizen Science Time Domain Astronomy with Astro-COLIBRI

TL;DR

Astro-COLIBRI is a real-time alert platform for transient astronomical events, supporting both professional and citizen scientists with tailored notifications and observation planning tools to enhance transient study and follow-up observations.

Contribution

This paper introduces Astro-COLIBRI, a novel platform that integrates real-time alerts and customized observation planning for transient astronomy, including citizen science features.

Findings

Real-time alerts for transient events improve observation response times.

Citizen scientists can access tailored alerts and observation tools.

Optimized plans assist in gravitational wave counterpart searches.

Abstract

Astro-COLIBRI is an innovative tool designed for professional astronomers to facilitate the study of transient astronomical events. Transient events - such as supernovae, gamma-ray bursts and stellar mergers - are fleeting cataclysmic phenomena that can offer profound insights into the most violent processes in the universe. Revealing their secrets requires rapid and precise observations: Astro-COLIBRI alerts its users of new transient discoveries from observatories all over the world in real-time. The platform also provides observers the details they need to make follow-up observations. Some of the transient phenomena available through Astro-COLIBRI are accessible by amateur astronomers and citizen scientists. A subset of the features dedicated to this growing group of users are highlighted here. They include the possibility of receiving only alerts on very bright events, the possibility of defining custom observer locations, as well as the calculation of optimized observation plans for searches for optical counterparts to gravitational wave events.