Convenor: Nic Walton
Talks: PFC 212, Tue 1 April, 16:00-17:30
Posters: Whitla Hall
Virtual Observatories (VO) are now offering a range of exciting features giving much easier access to astronomical data and applications. This session will highlight recent developments in the UK and Europe focusing on how VO access to data as diverse as UKIDSS and Merlin, SCUBA and HST, can help maximise the scientific return from these missions
Contributions to the session are invited from those who have been early scientific users of Virtual Observatory and Grid systems, or are involved with contributing to the development of these systems, perhaps adding new applications or data resources.
P26/225 - Scientific exploitation of ESA missions' data in the VO framework - submitted 25/02/2008
Presented by: Matteo Guainazzi (European Space Astronomy Centre of ESA)
Co-authors: Pedro Osuna, Christophe Arviset
Status: Accepted as talk. 16:00-16:20
Abstract: In this talk we will review the full range of activities that the European Space Agency (ESA) has been undertaking to ensure a VO compliant access to the data of its missions. They include the development of VOSpec, a VO-based tool for the analysis of spectroscopic and photometric data. We will also highlight a few scientific results, which have been made possible by this effort.
P26/438 - The AstroGrid Desktop Suite : Release 2008 - submitted 29/02/2008
Presented by: Andy Lawrence, University of Edinburgh
Co-authors: Keith Noddle, Nic Walton, and all the AstroGrid Project Team
Status: Accepted as talk. 16:20-16:40
Abstract: The AstroGrid Project is pleased to announce the public release of a new suite of user software, coupled with working services and deployed datasets, constituting the first fully operational Virtual Observatory system. The software includes tools for finding and bookmarking resources, running queries on catalogues, manipulating and cross-matching tables, accessing and analysing spectra and images, and using Python scripting to automate strings of tasks. I will explain how the software works and give a brief demo.
P26/506 - Using Google Sky as a Science Tool - submitted 29/02/2008
Presented by: Ryan Scranton (Google, Inc.)
Co-authors: Andrew Connolly (1), Simon Krughoff (1); 1 - University of Washington
Status: Accepted as talk. 16:40-17:00
Abstract: The release of Google Sky in late August brought science quality images to the general public through an intuitive, interactive environment. Google Sky allows users to experience images of the sky that were previously the sole province of professional astronomers and the KML mark-up language allows them to create their own content within Sky and share it with the rest of the world. In January, we released a major update of Sky largely built on KML files generated by professional and amateur astronomers, educators and our enthusiastic users, all working outside of Google. The current version of Sky has non-optical imagery from Chandra, Spitzer, GALEX, WMAP and IRAS, along with integration with the VOEventNet services and Earth & Sky podcasts. This talk will focus on the next stage of Sky development: using open source tools and the Sky Maps API to turn Sky into a tool for astronomers to do their science and publicize the fruits of their research.
P26/301 - Using the Virtual Observatory to filter and classify transient variables detected with PanSTARRS. - submitted 28/02/2008
Presented by: Queen's University Belfast
Co-authors: David Young, Stephen Smartt, Eduardo Gonzalez (1), Mark Taylor (2) ; 1 - Cambridge University, 2 - Bristol University
Status: Accepted as talk. 17:00-17:15
Abstract: The future PanSTARRS (PANoramic Survey Telescope and Rapid Response System) all-sky survey shall be performed by an array of four 1.8m telescopes, located in Hawaii. It has been predicted that the prototype PS1 telescope will have the potential to detect ~750 nearby supernovae every year. However, with an estimated ~50,000 static transient detections flowing from the PanSTARRS Moving Object Processing Pipeline (MOPS) each night, trying to extract out the 2-3 predicted supernovae really shall be like searching for a needle in a haystack. By utilizing the Virtual Observatory to query various resources such as 2MASS, USNO-B, SDSS and NED this once daunting task becomes more than feasible. With the help of astrogrid and the VO we now have the capability to filter these ~50,000 transients, classifying and archiving interesting objects such as variable stars, AGN and flagging all supernovae candidates.
P26/312 - PaperScope: A Visual Tool for Exploring the ADS - submitted 28/02/2008
Presented by: Mark Holliman (University of Edinburgh)
Status: Accepted as talk. 17:15-17:25
Abstract: A large part of Astronomical research involves reading and studying published papers available through the Astrophysics Data System (ADS - http://adsabs.harvard.edu/). The ADS provides search tools for finding papers, but these tools only present results in an HTML text based format which isn't easy to use when attempting to navigate clusters of related papers or reference chains. PaperScope is a standalone application that provides a visual method for searching and exploring the published papers listed in the ADS. Papers and their relationships are visualised as a 2D graph that can be searched and expanded using a number of intuitive tools. The graph and tools provided simplify the task of identifying papers of interest to the user and how these papers relate to one another. The graphs created can be saved for future use or can be shared with colleagues. This software can vastly simplify and improve the process of researching reference and citation paper chains, as well as enable the research astronomer to locate papers of interest quickly and efficiently. PaperScope is open source software and can be found at http://paperscope.sourceforge.net/
P26/107 - The National Grid Service - submitted 28/01/2008
Presented by: Katie Weeks, National Grid Service (STFC)
Status: Accepted as talk. 17:25-17:30
Abstract: As astronomical data sets grow in size, computational demands from the community are increasing. The National Grid Service (NGS) is the UK’s grid for academics and offers free computational and data services to all researchers from the UK. The NGS also provides training, documentation and support for those getting started on the grid or wanting to explore further what the grid can offer them. Many of our current users are astronomers with large data needs. We offer many data services, including database hosting and support, OGSA-DAI services and distributed file storage. The NGS can also provide users with free access to significant compute resources at multiple sites. A variety of applications and software is installed at all sites and we’re keen to hear requests for more applications. For more information about the NGS, please visit www.ngs.ac.uk
P26/229 - The AstroGrid VODesktop v1.0 Release - submitted 25/02/2008
Presented by: Dr Nicholas A Walton
Institute of Astronomy, University of Cambridge
Co-authors: Andrew Lawrence (1), Keith Noddle (2), The AstroGrid Consortium (3); 1 - University of Edinburgh, 2 - University of Leicester, 3 - http://www.astrogrid.org
Status: Accepted as poster
Abstract: AstroGrid is the UK's contribution to the global Virtual Observatory. From Spring 2008 it will roll out a full service to the UK astronomy community to allow them to access a complete range of new and archival data held both in the UK and globally. This presentation focuses on the new AstroGrid VODesktop client and how this enables the astronomer to find and then work with a global range of astronomy data and applications. Examples are given of science usage of the VODesktop tools, including access to large data sets such as those from SDSS (http://www.sdss.org) , UKIDSS (http://www.ukidss.org), IPHAS (http://www.iphas.org) and so forth. Full details of the v1.0 AstroGrid release are available at http://www.astrogrid.org.
P26/554 - The Hipparcos Newly Reduced Astrometric Catalogue and AstroGrid - submitted 05/03/2008
Presented by: Dugan Witherick (University College London)
Co-authors: Floor van Leeuwen (1), Nicholas Walton (1), Kona Andrews (2), Guy Rixon(1); 1 - IOA Cambridge, 2 - IFA Edinburgh
Status: Accepted as poster
Abstract: AstroGrid is the UK's Virtual Observatory system and in its current revision is a very powerful data mining tool. In June 2007 the AstroGrid project announced that it was seeking proposals for science tools or data to be made available through the AstroGrid virtual observatory system. The proposal to make the Hipparcos Newly Reduced Astrometric Catalogue available through AstroGrid was one of the successful applications. The Hipparcos Newly Reduced Astrometric catalogue is a new reduction of the astrometric data produced by the Hipparcos mission, by Floor van Leeuwen of the Institute of Astronomy in Cambridge. This new catalogue, which was formerly released in October 2007, claims accuracies for nearly all stars brighter than magnitude Hp=8 to be better, by up to a factor of 4, than the original catalogue. This poster summarises the tools call, including further details of the new catalogue and the steps taken to make it VO-enabled. Instructions on how to access the catalogue through AstroGrid and some sample queries will also be displayed on this poster.
