Archives, Databases and the Emerging Virtual Observatories

Abstract

Historically, any newly discovered object needed to be “confirmed” with optical observations. Catalogs were published, such as the PKS (Parkes Catalog), with stamp-sized photographs that allowed us to “see” what was just found. This is still somewhat true, although far less than in the past.

We are probably reaching an information overload with more efficient instruments, larger detectors, multiple wavelength coverage and an increasing number of ground and space-based facilities. At the same time, information technology is catching up and is allowing us to use the data regardless of where they reside.

An increasing need of multi-wavelength observations to understand the underlying physics of the observed phenomena and the challenge to mine petabyte databases is leading to a federation of archives and cooperation among computer scientists and astronomers. These are the seeds of a virtual observatory, a cyberspace entity where the data are ready to be found and analyzed.

In the United States, the National Science Foundation (NSF) and the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) are funding initiatives that will lead to the creation of this entity. This paper describes these projects.