The Unistellar Citizen Science Workflow

Sky conditions permitting, I will present a live demonstration of the workflow for making and submitting observations with a Unistellar telescope for doing Citizen Science. There are other modern, "smart" telescopes on the market but only Unistellar instruments provide a direct entry into doing science and contributing to research findings. Users whose data are used are offered coauthorships on resulting peer reviewed publications. These smart scopes can be used for student research projects and outreach activities.

For this workshop, I will select one or two type of observations to make depending on what objects are convenient at the time, hopefully a moving target, such as an asteroid or comet, and a stationary target, such as a supernova. I will make actual data runs in real time. Users should have a smart phone or tablet running either an Apple or Android operating system and the latest version of the official Unistellar app, which is free from the usual device app stores. For maximum convenience, the device used should not be the same one used for accessing the workshop. A Unistellar telescope is not required but if you have one, be ready to use it so you can make an observation too!

This workshop is scheduled for Sat. Feb. 21, 2026. Because this event requires good observing conditions, there is a backup date (of Feb. 28, 2026) in case clouds or other weather interferes on the original date. We will send an email to all registrants 4 hours of the start time on the original date to let you know whether we are moving forward with the original date, or moving to the backup date. If observing conditions are also bad on the backup date, the workshop will go forward to the extent possible without making actual observations.

• Original Date: Sat. Feb. 21, 2026 (6-8pm PT | 7-9pm MT | 8-10pm CT | 9-11pm ET)
• Backup Date: Sat. Feb. 28, 2026 (6-8pm PT | 7-9pm MT | 8-10pm CT | 9-11pm ET)

This workshop is free and will be virtual via Zoom.

Facilitator: Joe Heafner (Independent Scholar, OPTYCs Coordinator)

Note: OPTYCs does not endorse specific products, but supports our community's use of various commercially available tools and devices.