Number of Ice Investigators

[DanishDynamite]

When I first became an Ice Investigator some 2-3 weeks ago, the number of Contributors in the "My Ice" was 181. Then about 5-7 days ago it changed to 203 and has stayed there since. Is this number really working correctly?

I ask because it is a bit demoralising if the number has already flat-lined.

[elelectronlibre]

I agree. Also, the same numbers than yours appeared (last week and now) in "My Ice". Probably it's just a problem with the database... We're not a lot (yet), but I think we're growing. At least, I hope so .

[DanishDynamite]

I hope you are right, elelctronlibre.

[econseil]

There's 2584 members in the forums, but it seems that about 2560 are too shy to post a "Hello"
If only 203 of them have tried IceInvestigators, it's a bit disappointing...

[DaleSpace]

What is IceInvestigators? How was I supposed to find out about this?

[StarStryder]

So far very few people have tried the Ice Investigators project. This is partially due to us quietly putting it into beta testing while we work out the bugs. We plan to do a major push getting the word out about it next week.

Ice Investigators is a project that asks community members to look at really ugly images to try and identify moving objects, specifically, we are looking for Kuiper Belt Objects (chunks of ice like Pluto) and finding asteroids along the way. The images in this project are so ugly because they are created by subtracting two images of the same field taken at two different times. Any thing thatbis in both images subtracts to a donut (because stars are always focused slightly different), and anything that is moving appears as a nice bright spot.

[Shigeru]

Nah, the images are not so ugly, instead that images contain it's own exotic beauty

Glad to be able to help again with KBO science

[kmasterdo]

Wonderful explanation, starstryder!

And we could start a "Pareidolia" thread for the most beautiful images, Shigeru...

[rafaelg]

not all are ugly, some stars are happy
Attachment 51

[elelectronlibre]

not all are ugly, some stars are happy
Attachment 51

LOL, that's a great one!

[Shigeru]

LOL, that's a great one!

Indeed!

[rafaelg]

With hicehunters was achieved much enthusiasm among the people, now this new search recently starts,
I think it is important to get that many to be interested, because the new horizons spacecraft is probably the last that you can visit any KBO in several decades to come.
If not find a target, many lost the opportunity to see how it is a kbo.

See this link, it is interesting : http://pluto.jhuapl.edu/overview/piPerspective.php

[kmasterdo]

See this link, it is interesting : http://pluto.jhuapl.edu/overview/piPerspective.php

Thank you for sharing this!

[elelectronlibre]

Ice Investigators is a project that asks community members to look at really ugly images to try and identify moving objects [...]

If i'm one of the "discoverers" of the New Horizons KBO, I can tell you I'm printing that image and hanging it on my room's wall, no matter how ugly it is.

[kmasterdo]

If i'm one of the "discoverers" of the New Horizons KBO, I can tell you I'm printing that image and hanging it on my room's wall, no matter how ugly it is.

You can even print a series of images then since the object has to be detected in more than one image!

[MrParts]

Well you can add me as number 204.

I'm wondering why all the images seem to repeat every 45-50 times?

[Cory]

MrParts, several images are of the exact same spot in the sky, but at a different time. These two images look almost identical, but they are a bit different:

http://cosmoquest.org/iceinvestigato...imageID=334690
http://cosmoquest.org/iceinvestigato...imageID=334738

One of them has what looks to be a transient, and the other has a black spot in its place (which is why we don't need to mark the black spots. They'll be white in another image).

[laurele]

I am glad to be here and look forward to KBO hunting. I do want to point out that referring to Pluto as a "chunk of ice" is a bit misleading, as Pluto is estimated to be 70 percent rock.

[DanishDynamite]

Welcome to MrParts and plutosavior!

I wonder if both of you could tell us (or estimate, if you aren't sure) at what date you marked your first image (on Ice Investigators and on Moon Mappers)? I ask because as the OP (Opening Post) states, I question whether the Contributors number is working correctly. For the IceInvestigators, this number has been rock steady at 203 since around May 10. For the Moon Mappers it has been rock steady at 876 since at least May 18. So if you marked an image for the first time on IceInvestigators after May 10 or for the first time on Moon Mappers after May 18, please let us know! Because this would prove that the Contributors number is simply not working.

[Cory]

Oh sorry I forgot about that. Thanks for pointing it out! A few weeks ago we had to redo how the stats worked, but that was interrupted by some dire event, so everything but user count was updated. I'll try to update it tomorrow morning. The actual numbers are around 290 investigators, 770 simply craters mappers, and 390 man vs machine mappers.

Thanks for helping! If you hadn't pointed it out, we might have missed it for months.

[DanishDynamite]

Oh sorry I forgot about that. Thanks for pointing it out! A few weeks ago we had to redo how the stats worked, but that was interrupted by some dire event, so everything but user count was updated. I'll try to update it tomorrow morning. The actual numbers are around 290 investigators, 770 simply craters mappers, and 390 man vs machine mappers.

Thanks for helping! If you hadn't pointed it out, we might have missed it for months.

Finally! Thank you for confirming my suspicion and for looking to get it fixed. Its been demoralizing to see that number remain unchanged day after day after day, for 3 weeks now. I look forward to that number finally going up within the next couple of days.

[borncamp]

MrParts, several images are of the exact same spot in the sky, but at a different time. These two images look almost identical, but they are a bit different:

http://cosmoquest.org/iceinvestigato...imageID=334690
http://cosmoquest.org/iceinvestigato...imageID=334738

One of them has what looks to be a transient, and the other has a black spot in its place (which is why we don't need to mark the black spots. They'll be white in another image).

you are very correct that these images are of the same patch of sky at different times. however this particular transient will turn out to be a variable star. the black spot at a later suggests that the amount of light coming from that star changed. this is definitely something you should mark, we will also be using this data to do some research on variable stars. but that research is secondary to finding a good KBO for new horizons.

[DanishDynamite]

Another 3 weeks have now passed by and the number of Ice Investigators has still not been fixed. Is this immensely difficult to fix?

[dosey]

not all are ugly, some stars are happy
Attachment 51

That is so good, rafaelg!!!! wish I'd seen it - all the images I've seen so far are blurry and they keep repeating - so I'm not sure if they come back to me because I've made a mistake!!