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Data in Observational Astronomy

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Applied Data Science

Part of the book series: Studies in Big Data ((SBD,volume 125))

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Abstract

Astronomy is arguably the first data science. Astronomical observations date back to prehistoric times: early peoples used observations of the Sun, Moon, stars, and planets for navigation, timekeeping, and many other purposes. Ancient cultures catalogued the position and brightness of stars and planets. Throughout history, the sky has been of interest to scientists and non-scientists alike. The data that astronomers use to make discoveries are both the lifeblood of the discipline and a source of wonder and inspiration. This chapter provides an introduction for the non-specialist, describing why astronomers collect data; how data are collected, processed, used and shared, both between astronomers and between astronomers and the public; unique aspects of astronomical data; and future challenges for telling the story of the universe with astronomical data.

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Notes

  1. 1.

    Not included here are observational data acquired using other ‘messengers’ from the cosmos including gravitational waves and elementary particles such as neutrinos (see, e.g., [25]), or the data produced by computer simulations of astrophysical processes, which can be quite extensive (e.g., 5 petabtyes for the simulation described by Heitmann et al. [17]).

  2. 2.

    Such software is often used in producing aesthetic images, for example as part of a press release. See Sect. 4.2 below.

  3. 3.

    https://wwtambassadors.org/tours.

  4. 4.

    An example of sharing a related dataset with the public is a press release describing Hubble Space Telescope observations of the same region of sky, containing interactive images and explanatory text [36].

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Acknowledgements

The authors acknowledge funding support from an NSERC Discovery Grant and Undergraduate Summer Research Award.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Physics and Astronomy and Institute for Earth and Space Exploration, Western University, London, ON, Canada

    Pauline Barmby

  2. McGill University, Montreal, QC, Canada

    Samantha Wong

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Correspondence to Pauline Barmby .

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Statistical and Actuarial Sciences, University of Western Ontario, London, ON, Canada

    Douglas G. Woolford

  2. Faculty of Education, University of Western Ontario, London, ON, Canada

    Donna Kotsopoulos

  3. Faculty of Kinesiology and Physical Education, University of Toronto, Toronto, ON, Canada

    Boba Samuels

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Barmby, P., Wong, S. (2023). Data in Observational Astronomy. In: Woolford, D.G., Kotsopoulos, D., Samuels, B. (eds) Applied Data Science. Studies in Big Data, vol 125. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-29937-7_2

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