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New Frontiers in Astronomy

Hubble and Beyond

New Frontiers in Astronomy

Hubble and BeyondC. A. Christian and A.

ContiSpace Telescope Science

Institute

C. A. Christian and A. Conti

Space Telescope Science Institute

April 2006 2

QuickTime™ and aSorenson Video 3 decompressorare needed to see this picture.

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• Visible – Hubble Space Telescope• Gamma rays - Compton Gamma Ray Obs.• X-rays - Chandra X-ray Observatory• Infrared - Spitzer Space Telescope

April 2006 4

A New Era in AstronomyA New Era in Astronomy• 1960: astronomical data goes digital• New instruments collect 100s of GB/night• Detectors follow Moore’s law• Data avalanche: double every 2 years

Growth over 25 years is a factor of 30 in collecting area, 3000 in pixels.

Courtesy of Alex Szalay

UDFUDF

TadpoleTadpole

Egg NebulaEgg

Nebula

Cat’s EyeCat’s Eye

Hodge301/TrantulaHodge301/Trantula

Light EchoLight Echo

SombreroSombrero

Sombrero IRSombrero IR

Sombrero compositeSombrero composite

Orion NebulaOrion Nebula

QuickTime™ and aYUV420 codec decompressor

are needed to see this picture.

M101M101

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Pillars in the Eagle Nebula

Astronomical Data & Image Collection

Public Outreach CollaborationsPublic Outreach Collaborations

Public Info Informal ScienceNews K-14 College/Univ

Museums/ Planetaria

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Public Data AccessPublic Data Access

• Many observatories• Individual interfaces

• Many observatories• Individual interfaces

User

Mission A

Mission B

Mission C

Observatory X

Observatory Y

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The Virtual ObservatoryThe Virtual Observatory

Mission A

Mission B

Mission C

Observatory X

Observatory Y

User

• Data Standards• Related tools

• Data Standards• Related tools

VO

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NVO Datascope InterfaceNVO Datascope Interface

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Hubble Sky Coverage MapHubble Sky Coverage Map

QuickTime™ and aH.264 decompressor

are needed to see this picture.

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DSS, SDSS, 2MASS, GALEX,…

DSS, SDSS, 2MASS, GALEX,…

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NASA Data CentersNASA Data Centers

• MAST: Multimission Archive at STScI• HEASARC: High Energy Astrophysics Science Archive Research Center

• IRSA: Infrared Science Archives• LAMBDA: Legacy Archive for Microwave Background Data Analysis

• MSC: Michelson Science Center• NASA ADS: Astrophysics Data System• NED: NASA Extragalactic Database

• MAST: Multimission Archive at STScI• HEASARC: High Energy Astrophysics Science Archive Research Center

• IRSA: Infrared Science Archives• LAMBDA: Legacy Archive for Microwave Background Data Analysis

• MSC: Michelson Science Center• NASA ADS: Astrophysics Data System• NED: NASA Extragalactic Database

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The Age of Large SurveysThe Age of Large Surveys

• Large number of new surveys• multi-TB in size, 100 million objects or more

• individual archives planned, or under way• Data publication an integral part of the survey

• Multi-wavelength view of the sky

• Impressive early discoveries

• Large number of new surveys• multi-TB in size, 100 million objects or more

• individual archives planned, or under way• Data publication an integral part of the survey

• Multi-wavelength view of the sky

• Impressive early discoveries

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Data VolumeData Volume• Astronomers have ~ Petabytes online now.

• Mine for new or interesting objects in a 400-D space• Positions, brightness, color, type, size, etc…

• Data doubles every 2 years• Publishing data• Providing good visualization and query tools

• Astronomers have ~ Petabytes online now.

• Mine for new or interesting objects in a 400-D space• Positions, brightness, color, type, size, etc…

• Data doubles every 2 years• Publishing data• Providing good visualization and query tools

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International Virtual Observatory AllianceInternational Virtual Observatory Alliance

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Data Formats: FITSData Formats: FITS

• FITS: Flexible Image Transport System• Standard astronomical binary data format

• Composed of a sequence of Header Data Units (HDUs)

• keyword=value statements, describe the organization of the data in the HDU and the format of the contents

• HDU may contain a digital image, tables and multidimensional matrices

• FITS: Flexible Image Transport System• Standard astronomical binary data format

• Composed of a sequence of Header Data Units (HDUs)

• keyword=value statements, describe the organization of the data in the HDU and the format of the contents

• HDU may contain a digital image, tables and multidimensional matrices

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Data Formats: VOTableData Formats: VOTable

XML format for tabular information

• Catalog query results• List of images or spectra• List of resources

XML format for tabular information

• Catalog query results• List of images or spectra• List of resources

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World Coordinate SystemWorld Coordinate System

• Coordinate Systems: Galactic, Ecliptic, J2000 Equatorial, B1950 Equatorial

• WCS Projections: LIN, TAN, SIN, STG, AZP, ARC, ZPN, ZEA, AIR, CYP, CAR, MER, CEA, COP, COD, COE, COO, BON, PCO, SFL, PAR, AIT, MOL, CSC, TSC, DSS, PLT

• Coordinate Systems: Galactic, Ecliptic, J2000 Equatorial, B1950 Equatorial

• WCS Projections: LIN, TAN, SIN, STG, AZP, ARC, ZPN, ZEA, AIR, CYP, CAR, MER, CEA, COP, COD, COE, COO, BON, PCO, SFL, PAR, AIT, MOL, CSC, TSC, DSS, PLT

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ZIP Code in the Sky (HTM)

ZIP Code in the Sky (HTM)

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NVO ProtocolsSOAP Web Services

NVO ProtocolsSOAP Web Services

• Cone search• Simple query around a given region

• Simple image access• Create an image of this region.• First step produces VOTables with links to image

• User downloads images as FITS in second stage

• SkyNode• Sophisticated access to tables• Supports distributed queries• Uses ADQL• Should eventually subsume Cone-search

• Cone search• Simple query around a given region

• Simple image access• Create an image of this region.• First step produces VOTables with links to image

• User downloads images as FITS in second stage

• SkyNode• Sophisticated access to tables• Supports distributed queries• Uses ADQL• Should eventually subsume Cone-search

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GALEX SQL FormGALEX SQL Form

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Sloan Digital Sky InterfaceSloan Digital Sky Interface

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ChallengesChallenges41,253 square degrees 2 Trillion pixels

One wavelength 4 TerabytesMulti-wavelength 10-100 TerabytesTime dimension 10 Petabytes

• Hard to publish data & programs• Hard to find/understand data & programs

• New analysis & visualization tools are required

• Transition to the new astronomy• Sociological issues

41,253 square degrees 2 Trillion pixels

One wavelength 4 TerabytesMulti-wavelength 10-100 TerabytesTime dimension 10 Petabytes

• Hard to publish data & programs• Hard to find/understand data & programs

• New analysis & visualization tools are required

• Transition to the new astronomy• Sociological issues

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Contact InformationContact Information

Carol Christian carolc@stsci.edu

Alberto Conti aconti@stsci.edu

Carol Christian carolc@stsci.edu

Alberto Conti aconti@stsci.edu