Zoonometer Approaches 60 million

Having only announced the race to 60 million, only ten days ago, the Zoonometer is showing that we are now making the final 500,000 classifications! The response has been quite incredible and you can now start to see the winners going up on the Zoonometer page. We are still contacting winners as the classifications are made.

There is still one more prize draw to be made, at the 59,750,000 mark – when one classification from the previous 250,000 will be selected at random. Beyond that we await our 60,000,000th galaxy classification. The lucky person that makes that fateful classification will win a cool bundle of prizes:

• An original Sloan Digital Sky Survey plate
• A Galaxy Zoo mug and mousepad
• A Zooniverse t-shirt

Those of you that are wondering what will happen to Galaxy Zoo after the 60 million mark need not worry. We have a nice surprise in store for everyone very soon, but classifications will continue beyond 60,000,000 in the meantime. 60 million marks our minimum, best database. Every galaxy classified afterwards is still just as valid and useful as the 60,000,000 that preceded it and thus Galaxy Zoo will continue.

So if you want to be in with a chance of winning our prize for the 60,000,000th classification then go forth and classify! Watch this blog for more news and updates on the future of the Galaxy Zoo project.

[Image credit: NASA, ESA, K. Sheth (Spitzer Science Center, California Institute of Technology), and P. Capak and N. Scoville (California Institute of Technology)]