Data Analysis In Astronomy Ii

The II international workshop on "Data Analysis in Astronomy" was intended to provide an overview on the state of the art and the trend in data analy sis and image processing in the context of their applications in Astronomy. The need for the organization of a second workshop in this subject derived from the steady. growing and development in the field and from the increasing cross-interaction between methods, technology and applications in Astronomy. The book is organized in four main sections: - Data Analysis Methodologies - Data Handling and Systems dedicated to Large Experiments - Parallel Processing - New Developments The topics which have been selected cover some of the main fields in data analysis in Astronomy. Methods that provide a major contribution to the physical interpretation of the data have been considered. Attention has been devoted to the description of the data analysis and handling organization in very large experiments. A review of the current major satellite and ground based experiments has been included. At the end of the book the following 'Panel Discussions' are included: - Data Analysis Trend in Optical and Radio Astronomy - Data Analysis Trend in X and Gamma Astronomy - Problems and Solutions in the Design of Very Large Experiments - Trend on Parallel Processing Algorithms These contributions in a sense summarize the 'live' reaction of the audience to the various topics.

Using information and scale as central themes, this comprehensive survey explains how to handle real problems in astronomical data analysis through a modern arsenal of powerful techniques. The coverage includes chapters or appendices on: detection and filtering; image compression; multichannel, multiscale, and catalog data analytical methods; wavelets transforms, Picard iteration, and software tools.

Modern astronomical research faces a vast range of statistical issues which have spawned a revival in methodological activity among astronomers. The Statistical Challenges in Modern Astronomy II conference brought astronomers and statisticians together to discuss methodological issues of common interest. Time series analysis, image analysis, Bayesian methods, Poisson processes, nonlinear regression, maximum likelihood, multivariate classification, and wavelet and multiscale analyses were all important themes. Many problems were introduced at the conference in the context of large-scale astronomical projects including LIGO, AXAF, XTE, Hipparcos, and digitised sky surveys. As such, this volume will be of interest to researchers and advanced students in both fields - astronomers seeking exposure to recent developments in statistics, and statisticians interested in confronting new problems.

This book introduces “Astrostatistics” as a subject in its own right with rewarding examples, including work by the authors with galaxy and Gamma Ray Burst data to engage the reader. This includes a comprehensive blending of Astrophysics and Statistics. The first chapter’s coverage of preliminary concepts and terminologies for astronomical phenomenon will appeal to both Statistics and Astrophysics readers as helpful context. Statistics concepts covered in the book provide a methodological framework. A unique feature is the inclusion of different possible sources of astronomical data, as well as software packages for converting the raw data into appropriate forms for data analysis. Readers can then use the appropriate statistical packages for their particular data analysis needs. The ideas of statistical inference discussed in the book help readers determine how to apply statistical tests. The authors cover different applications of statistical techniques already developed or specifically introduced for astronomical problems, including regression techniques, along with their usefulness for data set problems related to size and dimension. Analysis of missing data is an important part of the book because of its significance for work with astronomical data. Both existing and new techniques related to dimension reduction and clustering are illustrated through examples. There is detailed coverage of applications useful for classification, discrimination, data mining and time series analysis. Later chapters explain simulation techniques useful for the development of physical models where it is difficult or impossible to collect data. Finally, coverage of the many R programs for techniques discussed makes this book a fantastic practical reference. Readers may apply what they learn directly to their data sets in addition to the data sets included by the authors.

In this book are reported the main results presented at the "Fourth International Workshop on Data Analysis in Astronomy", held at the Ettore Majorana Center for Scientific Culture, Erice, Sicily, Italy, on April 12-19, 1991. The Workshop was preceded by three workshops on the same subject held in Erice in 1984, 1986 and 1988. The frrst workshop (Erice 1984) was dominated by presentations of "Systems for Data Analysis"; the main systems proposed were MIDAS, AlPS, RIAIP, and SAIA. Methodologies and image analysis topics were also presented with the emphasis on cluster analysis, multivariate analysis, bootstrap methods, time analysis, periodicity, 2D photometry, spectrometry, and data compression. A general presentation on "Parallel Processing" was made which encompassed new architectures, data structures and languages. The second workshop (Erice 1986) reviewed the "Data Handling Systems" planned for large major satellites and ground experiments (VLA, HST, ROSAT, COMPASS-COMPTEL). Data analysis methods applied to physical interpretation were mainly considered (cluster photometry, astronomical optical data compression, cluster analysis for pulsar light curves, coded aperture imaging). New parallel and vectorial machines were presented (cellular machines, PAPIA-machine, MPP-machine, vector computers in astronomy). Contributions in the field of artificial intelligence and planned applications to astronomy were also considered (expert systems, artificial intelligence in computer vision).

The international Workshop on "Data Analysis in Astronomy" was in tended to give a presentation of experiences that have been acqui red in data analysis and image processing, developments and appli cations that are steadly growing up in Astronomy. The quality and the quantity of ground and satellite observations require more so phisticated data analysis methods and better computational tools. The Workshop has reviewed the present state of the art, explored new methods and discussed a wide range of applications. The topics which have been selected have covered the main fields of interest for data analysis in Astronomy. The Workshop has been focused on the methods used and their significant applications. Results which gave a major contribution to the physical interpre tation of the data have been stressed in the presentations. Atten tion has been devoted to the description of operational system for data analysis in astronomy. The success of the meeting has been the results of the coordinated effort of several people from the organizers to those who presen ted a contribution and/or took part in the discussion. We wish to thank the members of the Workshop scientific committee Prof. M. Ca paccioli, Prof. G. De Biase, Prof. G. Sedmak, Prof. A. Zichichi and of the local organizing committee Dr. R. Buccheri and Dr. M.C. Macca rone together with Miss P. Savalli and Dr. A. Gabriele of the E. Majo rana Center for their support and the unvaluable part in arranging the Workshop.

The present volume gathers together the talks presented at the second colloquim on the Future Professional Communication in Astronomy (FPCA II), held at Harvard University (Cambridge, MA) on 13-14 April 2010. This meeting provided a forum for editors, publishers, scientists, librarians and officers of learned societies to discuss the future of the field. The program included talks from leading researchers and practitioners and drew a crowd of approximately 50 attendees from 10 countries. These proceedings contain contributions from invited and contributed talks from leaders in the field, touching on a number of topics. Among them: - The role of disciplinary repositories such as ADS and arXiv in astronomy and the physical sciences; - Current status and future of Open Access Publishing models and their impact on astronomy and astrophysics publishing; - Emerging trends in scientific article publishing: semantic annotations, multimedia content, links to data products hosted by astrophysics archives; - Novel approaches to the evaluation of facilities and projects based on bibliometric indicators; - Impact of Government mandates, Privacy laws, and Intellectual Property Rights on the evolving digital publishing environment in astronomy; - Communicating astronomy to the public: the experience of the International Year of Astronomy 2009.