Astrotech 21: A technology program for future astrophysics missions

The Astrotech 21 technology program is being formulated to enable a program of advanced astrophysical observatories in the first decade of the 21st century. This paper describes the objectives of Astrotech 21 and the process that NASA is using to plan and implement it. It also describes the future astrophysical mission concepts that have been defined for the twenty-first century and discusses some of the requirements that they will impose on information systems for space astrophysics

Vaunting the independent amateur: Scientific American and the representation of lay scientists

This paper traces how media representations encouraged enthusiasts, youth and skilled volunteers to participate actively in science and technology during the twentieth century. It assesses how distinctive discourses about scientific amateurs positioned them with respect to professionals in shifting political and cultural environments. In particular, the account assesses the seminal role of a periodical, Scientific American magazine, in shaping and championing an enduring vision of autonomous scientific enthusiasms. Between the 1920s and 1970s, editors Albert G. Ingalls and Clair L. Stong shepherded generations of adult ‘amateur scientists’. Their columns and books popularized a vision of independent nonprofessional research that celebrated the frugal ingenuity and skills of inveterate tinkerers. Some of these attributes have found more recent expression in present-day ‘maker culture’. The topic consequently is relevant to the historiography of scientific practice, science popularization and science education. Its focus on independent nonprofessionals highlights political dimensions of agency and autonomy that have often been implicit for such historical (and contemporary) actors. The paper argues that the Scientific American template of adult scientific amateurism contrasted with other representations: those promoted by earlier periodicals and by a science education organization, Science Service, and by the national demands for recruiting scientific labour during and after the Second World War. The evidence indicates that advocates of the alternative models had distinctive goals and adapted their narrative tactics to reach their intended audiences, which typically were conceived as young persons requiring instruction or mentoring. By contrast, the monthly Scientific American columns established a long-lived and stable image of the independent lay scientist

The History of Astrometry

The history of astrometry, the branch of astronomy dealing with the positions of celestial objects, is a lengthy and complex chronicle, having its origins in the earliest records of astronomical observations more than two thousand years ago, and extending to the high accuracy observations being made from space today. Improved star positions progressively opened up and advanced fundamental fields of scientific enquiry, including our understanding of the scale of the solar system, the details of the Earth's motion through space, and the comprehension and acceptance of Newtonianism. They also proved crucial to the practical task of maritime navigation. Over the past 400 years, during which positional accuracy has improved roughly logarithmically with time, the distances to the nearest stars were triangulated, making use of the extended measurement baseline given by the Earth's orbit around the Sun. This led to quantifying the extravagantly vast scale of the Universe, to a determination of the physical properties of stars, and to the resulting characterisation of the structure, dynamics and origin of our Galaxy. After a period in the middle years of the twentieth century in which accuracy improvements were greatly hampered by the perturbing effects of the Earth's atmosphere, ultra-high accuracies of star positions from space platforms have led to a renewed advance in this fundamental science over the past few years.Comment: 52 pages, 14 figures. To appear in The European Physical Journal: Historical Perspectives on Contemporary Physic

Introduction to papers on astrostatistics

We are pleased to present a Special Section on Statistics and Astronomy in this issue of the The Annals of Applied Statistics. Astronomy is an observational rather than experimental science; as a result, astronomical data sets both small and large present particularly challenging problems to analysts who must make the best of whatever the sky offers their instruments. The resulting statistical problems have enormous diversity. In one problem, one may have to carefully quantify uncertainty in a hard-won, sparse data set; in another, the sheer volume of data may forbid a formally optimal analysis, requiring judicious balancing of model sophistication, approximations, and clever algorithms. Often the data bear a complex relationship to the underlying phenomenon producing them, much in the manner of inverse problems.Comment: Published in at http://dx.doi.org/10.1214/09-AOAS234 the Annals of Applied Statistics (http://www.imstat.org/aoas/) by the Institute of Mathematical Statistics (http://www.imstat.org

Stargazing: Observatories at Gettysburg College, 1874-Present

Astronomy has long been a subject which has attracted the interest of man. Examples of early astronomers can be found in many ancient civilizations, including but not limited to, the Egyptians, the Chinese and the Greeks. As time passed the methods for interpreting the stars and theories that surrounded them changed concordant with the technology available. One of the largest breakthroughs in the world of astronomy was the invention of the telescope in the early seventeenth century. Often mis-attributed to Galileo (who was responsible for building the first reflecting telescope in 1688), the telescope was actually first designed by a Dutch spectacle-maker by the name of Johann Lippershey. Improvements were eventually made upon these designs leading to the creation of government funded observatories, such as the Royal Greenwich Observatory in England, and later private and collegiate research observatories. By the early to mid-nineteenth century, the astronomical craze had begun to develop in America, resulting in the creation of many new observatories in the North and West (now the Mid-West). [excerpt] Course Information: Course Title: HIST 300: Historical Method Academic Term: Spring 2006 Course Instructor: Dr. Michael J. Birkner \u2772 Hidden in Plain Sight is a collection of student papers on objects that are hidden in plain sight around the Gettysburg College campus. Topics range from the Glatfelter Hall gargoyles to the statue of Eisenhower and from historical markers to athletic accomplishments. You can download the paper in pdf format and click View Photo to see the image in greater detail.https://cupola.gettysburg.edu/hiddenpapers/1007/thumbnail.jp

Some astronomical challenges for the twenty-first century

This paper addresses some of the scientific puzzles that astronomers may face in the next century. Four areas in astronomy are discussed in detail. These include cosmology and galaxy formation, active galaxies and quasars, supernovae and stellar remnants, and the formation of stars and planets. A variety of observatories on the Moon are proposed to attack these astronomical challenges

Workshop proceedings: Information Systems for Space Astrophysics in the 21st Century, volume 1

The Astrophysical Information Systems Workshop was one of the three Integrated Technology Planning workshops. Its objectives were to develop an understanding of future mission requirements for information systems, the potential role of technology in meeting these requirements, and the areas in which NASA investment might have the greatest impact. Workshop participants were briefed on the astrophysical mission set with an emphasis on those missions that drive information systems technology, the existing NASA space-science operations infrastructure, and the ongoing and planned NASA information systems technology programs. Program plans and recommendations were prepared in five technical areas: Mission Planning and Operations; Space-Borne Data Processing; Space-to-Earth Communications; Science Data Systems; and Data Analysis, Integration, and Visualization

Some statistical and computational challenges, and opportunities in astronomy

The data complexity and volume of astronomical findings have increased in recent decades due to major technological improvements in instrumentation and data collection methods. The contemporary astronomer is flooded with terabytes of raw data that produce enormous multidimensional catalogs of objects (stars, galaxies, quasars, etc.) numbering in the billions, with hundreds of measured numbers for each object. The astronomical community thus faces a key task: to enable efficient and objective scientific exploitation of enormous multifaceted data sets and the complex links between data and astrophysical theory. In recognition of this task, the National Virtual Observatory (NVO) initiative recently emerged to federate numerous large digital sky archives, and to develop tools to explore and understand these vast volumes of data. The effective use of such integrated massive data sets presents a variety of new challenging statistical and algorithmic problems that require methodological advances. An interdisciplinary team of statisticians, astronomers and computer scientists from The Pennsylvania State University, California Institute of Technology and Carnegie Mellon University is developing statistical methodology for the NVO. A brief glimpse into the Virtual Observatory and the work of the Penn State-led team is provided here