27/11 - 10:00 am

Hendrik Hildebrandt

Abstract ⓘ

Abstract

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Speaker

Hendrik Hildebrandt


Title

PHAT: PHoto-z Accuracy Testing (Bonn University)


Abstract

Photometric redshifts (photo-z) have become a major tool in extragalactic astronomy used to add a third dimension to the inherently two-dimensional images of the sky. Being easier to obtain and going deeper than spectroscopic redshifts photo-z are indispensable in situations where approximate distances to large numbers of faint galaxies are needed (e.g. weak gravitational lensing). Testing and characterising the accuracy of photo-z is an important ingredient in making current and future imaging surveys reach their scientific goals. In PHAT (PHoto-z Accuracy Testing) we established blind test environments to test one crucial ingredient influencing the accuracy of photo-z in isolation, the photo-z algorithm/method. Results are presented showing the convergence of different algorithms which suggests that a theoretical limit has been reached by the most mature algorithms. Still several areas where significant improvement can be achieved (beyond the pure algorithm) are highlighted. More recent developments are presented and the most pressing problems are discussed with a special emphasis on issues related to future weak lensing projects to study the nature of the accelerating expansion of the Universe.

Slides not available

09/10 - 11:00 am

Jeffrey Kantor

Abstract ⓘ

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Speaker

Jeffrey Kantor


Title

Future Wide Field Imaging with LSST (LSST)


Abstract

The Large Synoptic Survey Telescope (LSST) project is a proposed large-aperture, wide-field, ground-based telescope that will survey half the sky every few nights in six optical bands. LSST will produce a data set suitable for answering a wide range of pressing questions in astrophysics, cosmology, and fundamental physics. The 8.4-meter telescope will be located in the Andes mountains near La Serena, Chile. The 3.2 Gpixel camera will take 6.4 GB images every 15 seconds, resulting in 15 TB of new raw image data per night. An estimated 10 million transient alerts per night will be generated within 60 seconds of when the camera’s shutter closes. Processing such a large volume of data, converting the raw images into a faithful representation of the universe, automated data quality assessment, automated discovery of moving or transient sources, and archiving the results in useful form for a broad community of users is a major challenge. We present an overview of the planned computing and network infrastructure, database architecture, and pipelines for LSST, and highlight challenges in each area.

Slides not available

14/08 - 11:00 am

Luciano Nicastro

Abstract ⓘ

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Speaker

Luciano Nicastro


Title

Databases and web technologies for astronomy (INAF – IASF Bologna)


Abstract

We live in the Web 2.0 era. And the next level is approaching.The question is: does astronomy take advantages of these innovative, modern web technologies? I would say it doesn’t. We know that astronomers, and scientists in general, are very resilient to changes of habits. The reasons for that are several and partially understandable. However I’ll try to demonstrate that a modern approach to astronomical data management, visualization and analysis is not just a matter of aesthetic. Database management systems, relational and NoSQL, are becoming an accepted tool in astronomy. But the peculiarity of the astronomical data may reduce their performance and usability. However understanding well the problem is a good starting point to solve it. As a use case example, I’ll show how the spherical data management was solved in MySQL, the most used open source DBMS. Web technologies are very suitable to develop user friendly web-based tools for observational astronomy and can boost the exploitation of huge data archives such as those that will be produced by ground and space projects, like LSST, GAIA, TAOS-II, etc. But it would also be much easier to manage heterogeneous or multi-wavelength data. In spite these technologies, e.g. HTML5, WebSocket, WebGL, WebCL, WebRTC (note the “Web” prefix) are still not fully mature, they are already accepted and “open” standards in the browsers of our laptops, tablets and cellphones. To use web-tools, nothing but an updated browser is required to the user. Nothing to install or to maintain, i.e. no Apps, no OS incompatibility, … no Java!I’ll discuss the impact of these new technologies in astronomy and present examples to show their capabilities.

Slides not available

08/05 - 11:00 am

Matias Carrasco Kind

Abstract ⓘ

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Speaker

Matias Carrasco Kind


Title

How to produce, combine, store and use photo-z PDFs (UIUC)


Abstract

As we enter the era of precision cosmology, there has been a widespread adoption of photometric redshift probability density functions (PDFs) to aid in cosmological measurements as these provide much more information than single redshift estimates that allows, among other advantages, tighter constrains. On one hand, both current and future photometric surveys like DES or LSST are expected to obtain images from millions to billions of distinct galaxies, therefore the computation of these photo-z PDFs as well as their storage and management is becoming a increasingly important challenge. On the other hand, currently there exist a very wide variety of algorithms to compute these photo-z’s, each with their own strengths and weaknesses. In this talk I will discuss how tools from Machine Learning and Statistics can help us to address these issues by reviewing our work on the computation, efficient Bayesian combination, highly compressed storage and application of photo-z PDFs which will help us to better understand the dark components of the universe.

Slides not available

03/04 - 12:00 pm

Mario Juric

Abstract ⓘ

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Speaker

Mario Juric


Title

LSST Data Management: Overview of the System (LSST)


Abstract

The Large Synoptic Survey Telescope (LSST) is a planned, large-aperture, wide-field, ground-based telescope that will survey half the sky every few nights in six optical bands from 320 to 1050 nm. It will explore a wide range of astrophysical questions, ranging from discovering “killer” asteroids, to examining the nature of dark energy. The LSST will produce on average 15 terabytes of data per night, yielding an (uncompressed) data set of over 100 petabytes at the end of its 10-year mission. Dedicated HPC facilities will process the image data in near real time, with full-dataset reprocessings on annual scale. A sophisticated data management system will enable database queries from individual users, as well as computationally intensive scientific investigations that utilize the entire data set. In this talk, I will give an overview of what LSST will deliver once operational, describe how the data management system is organized and talk about opportunities for use of the LSST software as early as today.

Slides not available

27/02 - 04:00 pm

Ani Thakar

Abstract ⓘ

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Speaker

Ani Thakar


Title

SkyServer to SciServer: The Past, Present and Future of the SDSS CAS (Johns Hopkins University)


Abstract

The Sloan Digital Sky Survey Catalog Archive Server (CAS) and its Web portal, the SkyServer, have been in operation since 2001 and still going strong. The multi-terabyte SDSS catalog archive ushered in the era of big data, and has been a huge success by any measure, but that does not mean that it did not have its share of growing pains, mid-life crises and near-death experiences. This talk covers the good, e.g.,the extremely fruitful collaboration with Jim Gray that resulted in a new paradigm of data-intensive science with databases, and the extensive reusable building blocks that we built along the way; the bad, e.g. the lack of a plan to distribute data to mirror sites, and the impact on operational schedules and resources of the unprecedented data sizes; and the ugly, e.g. having to ditch our original object-oriented DBMS platform after spending several man-years of development effort on it. Through it all, the SkyServer has emerged as a oft-imitated and adapted model for data intensive science. As SDSS is poised to enter its fourth phase, the SkyServer is preparing to transition into an integrated and unified data infrastructure for big data in all sciences: SciServer.

Slides not available