Astronomers Create Hubble Source Catalog

This is excellent news for anyone who hates digging through massive amounts of data. I'm willing to bet that entails everybody. I know ATS will put it to good use and I can't wait to start digging. I had some trouble getting it to work, but it seems to be up and running.

Named the Hubble Source Catalog (HSC), it now allows astronomers to perform a computer search for characteristics of roughly 100 million small sources ranging from distant galaxies to compact star clusters to individual stars, receiving information within seconds or minutes.

Above:This graphic shows an example of how the Hubble Source Catalog was constructed for a small part of the Hubble Deep Field. The catalog includes data from 76 separate images for the same region. Only three of these original images are shown on the left: one taken in orange light by the Wide Field Planetary Camera 2 (top); one taken in blue light by the Advanced Camera for Surveys (middle); and one taken in infrared light with the Wide Field Camera 3 (bottom). Note that the "sources," or objects, in each original image are not perfectly aligned with the final position from the Hubble Source Catalog (the pink circles). Specially developed software had to shift all the images slightly to align the sources before making the final version of the catalog.

I'm sure there are those who will appreciated this more than me, but I would be doing ATS a huge disservice by not sharing this. I find the process fascinating and can't imagine the work involved to make it happen. The easier it is to digest information that is stored in large databases, the quicker we'll be able to learn, compare and make observations.

Hubble has amassed a rich legacy of images and other scientific data over its 25 years of exploring the universe. All of the images are stored in the computer-based Barbara A. Mikulski Archive for Space Telescopes (MAST), which astronomers use for their research. The archive is bursting with more than a million images, which contain roughly 100 million small sources ranging from distant galaxies to compact star clusters to individual stars. For astronomers, however, a major challenge is the difficulty involved with sifting through the archival gold mine to collect the data they want to analyze. The Hubble Source Catalog now allows astronomers to readily perform a computer search for characteristics of these sources.

Previously, a query into this database would requires months of sifting through separate files for a specific set of data. With this new system, scientists hope to achieve the same result in a matter of minutes. This enormous improvement not only accelerates research, but helps us take on new challenges and studies that were previously too daunting and cumbersome to achieve using the old "system", for lack of a better word.

It lists all of the sources, and includes both a summary and compilation of the measurements for each object. The measurements include information about the brightness of sources, as well as a source’s color and shape.

Here's some more information about the process they used. By combining images from all three of Hubble's instruments into one file with searchable characteristics, data can now be compiled without having to switch files or databases.

The catalog brings together observations from the three primary cameras that have served Hubble since 1993: the Wide Field Planetary Camera 2, Advanced Camera for Surveys, and Wide Field Camera 3. The three cameras combined make observations spanning a wide swath of the spectrum, from ultraviolet to visible and near-infrared light. The catalog lists all of the sources, and includes both a summary and compilation of the measurements for each object. The measurements include information about the brightness of sources, as well as a source's color and shape. Astronomers released the first version of the catalog on Feb. 25.

There are many members here that will undoubtedly take advantage of this new catalog if they have not been already. I'm just happy to share with ATS one of the biggest achievements in Hubble's legacy. Now, a more complete and organic picture can be created in a matter of minutes, hopefully spurring new research and studies that have been put aside due to time constraints.

Thank you Mr. Hubble, your legacy will live on forever.

a reply to: eisegesis

Good news on my doorstep, thanks for the thread, well deserving of a bump-de-bump.

Is the knowledge being accumulated by these astronomers of any more use to mankind than the cataloguing of every kind of beetle? What practical advantages are there in knowing what is happening in distant galaxies? We couldn't even communicate with a similar race to ourselves in another galaxy if we both had speed of light transmission of data, in a real conversational manner, so what exactly is the aim of all this observing? Gathering information for the sake of it isn't good enough when there are far more pressing problems closer to home those intelligent minds could be focused on.

a reply to: IvanAstikov

One use is to see and map the overall pattern's that hold the galaxies together and actually make concentrated shapes made up of the individual galaxies. To be able to look at a Hubble image of a particular star, galaxy, nebula, etc., by just entering them into a search box (or whatever this catalogue uses) assists researchers and students in their work and projects. Having this seems better than not having it, and the accumulated human knowledge becomes a bit more enhanced and complete.

When it's complete, what next? At the moment, aren't astronomers just ensuring there's always a need for astronomers? I'd prefer all those observers were focusing on our own galaxy, particularly the interactions between our solar system and random space rocks, then when we've perfected a method of preventing them ever doing to us what they did to the dino's, they can do all the cataloguing they want.

originally posted by: Aleister
a reply to: eisegesis

Good news on my doorstep, thanks for the thread, well deserving of a bump-de-bump.

Thanks.

This is great news for some, useless and boring to most, though it shouldn't be. People forget about the amount of time and effort that goes into collecting data for project research. They're just interested in the results.

a reply to: eisegesis

This is excellent news for anyone who hates digging through massive amounts of data. I'm willing to bet that entails everybody. I know ATS will put it to good use and I can't wait to start digging. I had some trouble getting it to work, but it seems to be up and running.

Actually...that's just what Astronomy needs, a whole new set of identifiers...its not bad enough that every star catalog uses its own identifiers, thus making it more and more difficult to combine these datasets into a usable database. NOW we get yet another poorly designed dataset (database) to help make things even more difficult to find.

There is a bit of software, a "server" actually...made by two of the top companies on the planet. One is called Oracle, the other MS-SQL Server. Both are intended to serve, and generally make data available in an easy to query framework. I know that these things and their language (SQL) are not well known, but, seriously, science should try old things before they insist that they need new.

While I'm still working on it; I will soon have a far superior database...it will combine Hipparcos, Extended Hipparcos, Kepler, and a few others into a single database that is easy to query...and will probably serve everyone better than any "new' thing they might come up with.