Australian Virtual Observatory
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From: <Ray.Norris_at_email.protected>
Date: Sat, 22 Jun 2002 11:52:01 +1000
Dear member of the Australian Virtual Observatory Working Group
Things are now starting to move quite significantly on the Virtual
Observatory front, and so I propose to restart the activity of this group.
This email is both for your information and to request your input.
1) "TOWARD AN INTERNATIONAL VIRTUAL OBSERVATORY"
Last week I attended a pivotal meeting in Europe (see
http://www.eso.org/gen-fac/meetings/vo2002/), organised by ESO, to set the
direction for the International Virtual Observatory effort. The main
outcomes, from my perspective, of this very productive and stimulating
meeting were:
* Some of the hype that has so far sometimes characterised much of the VO
effort is now being replaced by real work and by some exciting initiatives.
* The major European and US initiatives, together with smaller initiatives
like ours, seem to be converging on a model in which standards and
protocols will be set up and agreed on between the various groups, but each
group maintains its independence rather than setting up some
"mega-organization".
* Rather than the VO being characterised by a few large data centres, there
was nearly unanimous agreement that the VO should be a federation of
databases, with observatories and data centres maintaining their data as
appropriate. The data centres are likely to remain the focus of the
development of standards.
* There was widespread support for the idea that the VO should not just
support archived data, but should also support modelling, theory, pipeline
processing, access to real telescopes, including automating the target of
opportunity processes, access to robotic telescopes, and easier access to
the standard observatory peer-review proposal system.
* There was widespread support, and demand, for inclusion of the major
Australian databases (e.g. 2dF, MACHO, SUMSS, ATCA archive, HIPASS, etc) in
the VO.
. An alliance of all the various virtual observatory initiatives, called the
International Virtual Observatory Alliance (IVOA) was set up. Australia is
now a member of that alliance.
If you are interested, the paper I presented is on
http://www.atnf.csiro.au/people/rnorris/tmp/VO_June2002a.ppt
2) WHAT SHOULD WE DO IN AUSTRALIA?
I propose that the Australian contribution to the IVO should consist of
three elements:
a) Making Australian data available to the international community, thus
producing more and better science, getting greater and more productive use
of our telescopes, and boosting the international profile of Australian
astronomy.
b) Setting up Australian infrastructure (e.g. grid computers, higher
bandwidth links, software tools, mirrors) so that Australian astronomers are
able to reap full advantage from the IVO efforts internationally.
c) Participate in the development of tools, techniques, standards, and
protocols.
I propose the Australian Virtual Observatory effort should not be a
monolithic mega-project, but instead should consist of separate projects
conducted by the various groups in Australia, with coordination achieved
between them using this working group, with face-to-face workshops as
appropriate.
I would welcome your input and feedback on these two proposals.
3) ARC CENTRES OF EXCELLENCE
The ARC has recently announced an opportunity to create a number of "ARC
Centres of Excellence" (see http://www.arc.gov.au/ncgp/coe/). Expressions of
Interest must be lodged by 15 July, and should be from a University,
although CSIRO can also be a collaborator. About eight centres will be
funded with ARC money of around $2 million each a year for five years. They
may be located at a single site, comprise networked nodes, or operate as a
'virtual centre' provided they create sufficient scale and focus to lift
Australia's standing in the priority areas. They aim to serve as points of
interaction, and will offer access to infrastructure and equipment, and
develop relationships and networks with major international centres. An
Australian Virtual observatory would be a strong candidate for such a
centre, and any or all of Sydney, Melbourne, ANU, Swinburne, or UNSW would
be excellent hosts (Tasmania probably has insufficient bandwidth at present
to be a credible host). I suggest that those who are interested in
collaborating on this proposal use this email exploder (ivo_at_EmailProtected)
to set up the initial links.
4) WHAT IS ALREADY HAPPENING IN AUSTRALIA?
I m aware of the following initiatives already occurring. There may also be
others - please tell me if you know of any not listed here. Much of this
data is already on-line or publicly available in some form - further work
will be needed to interface it to the IVO.
* ARC proposal to put HIPASS data online - PI Rachel Webster
* Program to put ATCA archive data online - PI Dave McConnell
* Program to put MACHO data on line - PI Robyn Allman?
* Program to put SUMSS data on line - PI Elaine Sadler
* Grid computing proposal for CSIRO funding - PI Dave Abel and Ray Norris
* Program to put 2dF galaxy and quasar data online - PI Brian Boyle and
Matthew Colless?
* Development of the World Coordinate System, central to FITS and VO
standards - PI Mark Calabretta
5) INFRASTRUCTURE
a) We have a rudimentary (and rather out-of-date) web page on
http://www.atnf.csiro.au/projects/avo/ . We plan to progressively update
this site and flesh it out over the next few weeks. Any contributions or
suggestions would be very welcome.
b) The acronym "AVO" has been taken by the European "Astrophysical Virtual
Observatory" project, so we need to choose a new name other than "Australian
Virtual Observatory". I have used "eAstronomy Australia" for the time being.
Another possible candidate is VAST (Virtual Australian Southern Telescope).
We need to choose a better name. Some suggestions are on
http://www.atnf.csiro.au/people/rnorris/tmp/VOnames.htm .
Any better suggestions?
Cheers
Ray
Prof. Ray P. Norris
Deputy Director
CSIRO Australia Telescope National Facility
PO Box 76
Epping NSW 1710
Email Ray.Norris_at_EmailProtected
http://www.atnf.csiro.au/~rnorris
Tel +61 2 9372 4416
Fax +61 2 9372 4310
Mobile +61 417 288 307
Received on 2002-06-22 11:52:32
Date: Sat, 22 Jun 2002 11:52:01 +1000
Dear member of the Australian Virtual Observatory Working Group
Things are now starting to move quite significantly on the Virtual
Observatory front, and so I propose to restart the activity of this group.
This email is both for your information and to request your input.
1) "TOWARD AN INTERNATIONAL VIRTUAL OBSERVATORY"
Last week I attended a pivotal meeting in Europe (see
http://www.eso.org/gen-fac/meetings/vo2002/), organised by ESO, to set the
direction for the International Virtual Observatory effort. The main
outcomes, from my perspective, of this very productive and stimulating
meeting were:
* Some of the hype that has so far sometimes characterised much of the VO
effort is now being replaced by real work and by some exciting initiatives.
* The major European and US initiatives, together with smaller initiatives
like ours, seem to be converging on a model in which standards and
protocols will be set up and agreed on between the various groups, but each
group maintains its independence rather than setting up some
"mega-organization".
* Rather than the VO being characterised by a few large data centres, there
was nearly unanimous agreement that the VO should be a federation of
databases, with observatories and data centres maintaining their data as
appropriate. The data centres are likely to remain the focus of the
development of standards.
* There was widespread support for the idea that the VO should not just
support archived data, but should also support modelling, theory, pipeline
processing, access to real telescopes, including automating the target of
opportunity processes, access to robotic telescopes, and easier access to
the standard observatory peer-review proposal system.
* There was widespread support, and demand, for inclusion of the major
Australian databases (e.g. 2dF, MACHO, SUMSS, ATCA archive, HIPASS, etc) in
the VO.
. An alliance of all the various virtual observatory initiatives, called the
International Virtual Observatory Alliance (IVOA) was set up. Australia is
now a member of that alliance.
If you are interested, the paper I presented is on
http://www.atnf.csiro.au/people/rnorris/tmp/VO_June2002a.ppt
2) WHAT SHOULD WE DO IN AUSTRALIA?
I propose that the Australian contribution to the IVO should consist of
three elements:
a) Making Australian data available to the international community, thus
producing more and better science, getting greater and more productive use
of our telescopes, and boosting the international profile of Australian
astronomy.
b) Setting up Australian infrastructure (e.g. grid computers, higher
bandwidth links, software tools, mirrors) so that Australian astronomers are
able to reap full advantage from the IVO efforts internationally.
c) Participate in the development of tools, techniques, standards, and
protocols.
I propose the Australian Virtual Observatory effort should not be a
monolithic mega-project, but instead should consist of separate projects
conducted by the various groups in Australia, with coordination achieved
between them using this working group, with face-to-face workshops as
appropriate.
I would welcome your input and feedback on these two proposals.
3) ARC CENTRES OF EXCELLENCE
The ARC has recently announced an opportunity to create a number of "ARC
Centres of Excellence" (see http://www.arc.gov.au/ncgp/coe/). Expressions of
Interest must be lodged by 15 July, and should be from a University,
although CSIRO can also be a collaborator. About eight centres will be
funded with ARC money of around $2 million each a year for five years. They
may be located at a single site, comprise networked nodes, or operate as a
'virtual centre' provided they create sufficient scale and focus to lift
Australia's standing in the priority areas. They aim to serve as points of
interaction, and will offer access to infrastructure and equipment, and
develop relationships and networks with major international centres. An
Australian Virtual observatory would be a strong candidate for such a
centre, and any or all of Sydney, Melbourne, ANU, Swinburne, or UNSW would
be excellent hosts (Tasmania probably has insufficient bandwidth at present
to be a credible host). I suggest that those who are interested in
collaborating on this proposal use this email exploder (ivo_at_EmailProtected)
to set up the initial links.
4) WHAT IS ALREADY HAPPENING IN AUSTRALIA?
I m aware of the following initiatives already occurring. There may also be
others - please tell me if you know of any not listed here. Much of this
data is already on-line or publicly available in some form - further work
will be needed to interface it to the IVO.
* ARC proposal to put HIPASS data online - PI Rachel Webster
* Program to put ATCA archive data online - PI Dave McConnell
* Program to put MACHO data on line - PI Robyn Allman?
* Program to put SUMSS data on line - PI Elaine Sadler
* Grid computing proposal for CSIRO funding - PI Dave Abel and Ray Norris
* Program to put 2dF galaxy and quasar data online - PI Brian Boyle and
Matthew Colless?
* Development of the World Coordinate System, central to FITS and VO
standards - PI Mark Calabretta
5) INFRASTRUCTURE
a) We have a rudimentary (and rather out-of-date) web page on
http://www.atnf.csiro.au/projects/avo/ . We plan to progressively update
this site and flesh it out over the next few weeks. Any contributions or
suggestions would be very welcome.
b) The acronym "AVO" has been taken by the European "Astrophysical Virtual
Observatory" project, so we need to choose a new name other than "Australian
Virtual Observatory". I have used "eAstronomy Australia" for the time being.
Another possible candidate is VAST (Virtual Australian Southern Telescope).
We need to choose a better name. Some suggestions are on
http://www.atnf.csiro.au/people/rnorris/tmp/VOnames.htm .
Any better suggestions?
Cheers
Ray
Prof. Ray P. Norris
Deputy Director
CSIRO Australia Telescope National Facility
PO Box 76
Epping NSW 1710
Email Ray.Norris_at_EmailProtected
http://www.atnf.csiro.au/~rnorris
Tel +61 2 9372 4416
Fax +61 2 9372 4310
Mobile +61 417 288 307
Received on 2002-06-22 11:52:32