Crowdsourcing astronomy data

Science News : Home computers in Iowa and Germany, as part of the Einstein@Home project, recently helped astronomers discover a rare kind of pulsar, one that’s isolated and has a low magnetic field. Einstein@Home uses computer time donated by home and office computer owners to process the mountains of data coming from gravitational wave and radio wave detectors. The computers, onto which programs have been downloaded, process data when not being used for other computer applications. Researchers say that the donated electrical power would cost more than $4 million per year, and the combined computer time can add up to a power greater than a supercomputer. Started five years ago, the Einstein@home program has been downloaded to some 500 000 computers around the world. A paper describing the new pulsar, which has a pulse frequency of 40.8 Hz and is named PSR J2007+2722, appears in today’s issue of Science .