Selected Topics On Data Analysis In Astronomy

The main topics covered by the book regard the new developments of the methods and computer architectures in the field of Data Analysis in Astronomy and Astrophysics. The materials presented here is comprehensive and of interest to both experts in data analysis and students of an high degree course. The text is derived from lectures given during the tutorial sessions of the workshop on Data Analysis in Astronomy held at the Ettore Majorana Centre in Erice.

The main topics covered by the book regard the new developments of the methods and computer architectures in the field of Data Analysis in Astronomy and Astrophysics. The materials presented here is comprehensive and of interest to both experts in data analysis and students of an high degree course. The text is derived from lectures given during the tutorial sessions of the workshop on Data Analysis in Astronomy held at the Ettore Majorana Centre in Erice.

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.

Astronomy and Astrophysics Abstracts aims to present a comprehensive documen tation of the literature concerning all aspects of astronomy, astrophysies, and their border fields. It is devoted to the recording, summarizing, and indexing of the relevant publications throughout the world. Astronomy and Astrophysics Abstracts is prepared by a special department of the Astronomisches Rechen-Institut under the auspices of the International Astronomical Union. Volume 44 records literature published in 1987 and received before February 15, 1988. Some older documents which we received late and which are not surveyed in earlier volumes are inc1uded too. We acknowledge with thanks contributions of our colleagues all over the world. We also express our gratitude to all organiza tions, observatories, and publishers which provide us with complimentary copies of their publications. Dr. Siegfried Böhme retired from his duties as co-editor of Astronomy and Astro physics Abstracts on December 31, 1987. Since 1950 he partieipated in the biblio graphie work of the institute. He served as a reviewer for the Astronomischer Jahresbericht and became one of the editors of Astronomy and Astrophysics Ab stracts in 1969. After his retirement in 1975 he took care of, particularly, the Russian literature on a voluntary basis for 12 years. It is a pleasure to thank Siegfried Böhme for his valuable contributions. Starting with Volume 33, all the recording, correction, and data processing work was done by means of computers. The recording was done by our technical staff members Ms. Helga Ballmann, Ms. Christiane Jehn, Ms. Monika Kohl, Ms.

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.

In the book are reported the main results presented at the Third International Workshop on Data Analysis in Astronomy, held at the EUore Majorana Center for Scientific Culture, Erice, Sicily, Italy, on June 20-27,1988. The Workshop was the natural evolution of the two previous ones. The main goal of the first edition (Erice 1984) was to start a scientific interaction between Astronomers and Computer Scientists. Aim of the second (Erice 1986) was to look at the progress in data analysis methods and dedicated hardware technology. Data analysis problems become harder whenever the data are poor in statistics or the signal is weak and embedded in structured background. Experiments collecting data of such a nature require new and non-standard methodologies. Possibilistic approaches could be merged with the statistical ones, in order to formalize all the knowledge used by the scientists to reach conclusions. Moreover, the last decade has been characterized by very fast developments of Intelligent Systems for data analysis (knowledge based systems, ... ) that would be useful to support astronomers in complex decision making. For these reasons, the last edition of the workshop was intended to provide an overview on the state of the art in the data analysis methodologies and tools in the new frontieres of the astrophysics (y-astronomy, neutrino astronomy, gravitational waves, background radiation and extreme cosmic ray energy spectrum). The book is organized in two sections: - Data analysis methods and tools, - New frontieres in astronomy.

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.

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).