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A new European project,
the Astrophysical Virtual Observatory (AVO), will enable astronomers to
link up digital databanks that hold data obtained by European ground and
space telescopes. The AVO will provide access to information across the
whole range of wavelengths and give new impetus to European astronomical
research. This initiative is funded by the European Commission for research
and led by the European Southern Observatory (ESO) in partnership with
the Space Telescope European Coordinating Facility of the European Space
Agency, the United Kingdom's ASTROGRID consortium, the "Centre de
données astronomiques de Strasbourg" (Strasbourg Center for
astronomical Data, CNRS – Louis Pasteur University), the TERAPIX
astronomical data center of the "Institut d'Astrophysique de Paris"
(Astrophysics Institute of Paris, CNRS), and Victoria University, Manchester
(England).
Present-day observatories,
whether ground- or space-based, provide amazing amounts of observation
data. Hundreds of terabits, corresponding to thousands of billions of
pixels*, accumulate at an ever-increasing rate each year.
The data, stored digitally in databases, now allow scientists to construct
a "virtual sky," and provide a superb foundation for researchers
to work on. But accessing on-line terabits of data spread out in observatories
the world over, and then using all this information for scientific purposes,
requires sophisticated technology and rapid, easy-to-use tools for research
and analysis. The aim of the Astrophysical Virtual Observatory (AVO) is
to maximize the potential of these data archives by using the latest in
computer technology, data storage and analysis techniques. The data will
be made available to professional and amateur astronomers and students.
The AVO will be a virtual observatory for European astronomers. This project,
which will require around three years of study and development, will give
access to the information accumulated in the many databanks of the observatories
of Europe. The AVO will be equipped with computer and software tools to
process data, and will make all the observations available via Internet
to researchers, thereby facilitating new multi-wavelength research programs.
When the AVO project was submitted to the European Union, it received
Euros 4 million in funding from the European Research and Technological
Development scheme. The AVO is led by the European Southern Observatory.
The CNRS, through the CDS (Strasbourg Center for astronomical Data, CNRS
– Louis Pasteur University), and the TERAPIX Data Center ("Traitement
Elémentaire, Analyse et Réduction des PIXels," an astronomical
data processing center dedicated to very large images) at the Paris Astrophysics
Institute (CNRS). The CDS collects, identifies, analyzes and stores data
on astronomical objects as well as the relevant bibliography. SIMBAD,
its databank, which is accessible on line, is considered a reference worldwide.
In the AVO project, the role of the CDS is to develop services that provide
access to, and allow concurrent use of archives - i.e., to ensure interoperability.
The aim of TERAPIX is to process the data that will be supplied by the
CCD Megacam camera, soon to be installed on the prime focus of the 3.6m
diameter Canada-France-Hawaii telescope.
A similar project, the National Virtual Observatory (NVO), is currently
being developed in the United States. The Astrophysical Virtual Observatory
is in close contact with the NVO team, with the joint aim of designing
a virtual global observatory.
* pixel: the smallest element of
an image
ESO: http://www.hq.eso.org/
AVO: http://www.hq.eso.org/projects/avo/
Centre de données astronomiques de Strasbourg: http://cdsweb.u-strasbg.fr/
TERAPIX Center: http://terapix.iap.fr/
Researcher
contacts:
Françoise Genova
Centre de données astronomiques de Strasbourg
(Strasbourg Center for Astronomical Data)
Tel: + 33 3 90 24 24 76
E-mail: genova@newb6.u-strasbg.fr
Yannick Mellier
Institut d’Astrophysique de Paris
(Paris Astrophysics Institute)
Tel: + 33 1 44 32 81 40
E-mail: mellier@iap.fr
CNRS-INSU Contact:
Philippe CHAUVIN
Tel: + 33 1 44 96 43 36
E-mail: Philippe.Chauvin@cnrs-dir.fr
CNRS Press
contact :
Martine Hasler
Tel : +33 1 44 96 46 35
E-mail : martine.hasler@cnrs-dir.fr
Louis Pasteur University press contact:
Agns Villanueva
Tel: + 33 3 90 24 11 35
E-mail: Agnes.Villanueva@adm-ulp.u-strasbg.fr
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