National Virtual Observatory
Encyclopedia
The US National Virtual Observatory (NVO) was conceived to allow scientists to access data from multiple astronomical observatories, including ground and space-based facilities, through a single portal. Currently, the National Science Foundation
(NSF) funds the information technology research that created the basic NVO infrastructure through a multi-organization collaborative effort. The NVO is more than a “digital library”; it is a vibrant, growing online research facility akin to a bricks-and-mortar observatory for professional astronomers.
, detector
, and computer
technologies. These advances have resulted in a plethora of images, other data, and catalogs. In August 2001, the NSF allocated funding for a proposal entitled "Framework for the National Virtual Observatory
". The grant was approved under its Information Technology Research program (since superseded). Current NVO funding supports collaboration to produce a distributed computing framework for an integrated cyber infrastructure for astronomer
s providing seamless access to these astronomical resources.
The manifestation of this infrastructure will be an operational “virtual observatory” available to scientists and to the public. Investigators acquire existing astronomical data from a variety of observatory archive
s through “virtual instruments”, that is, computer interfaces, tools, and services. The NVO is planned and implemented in synergy with the research community, the primary users of the system. In 2007, the operational stage of the NVO will begin with combined funding from NSF and NASA
and programmatically executed through NSF. Scientists access the NVO through the NVO website.
s, including NSF
's National Optical Astronomy Observatory
(NOAO), National Radio Astronomy Observatory
(NRAO), the Sloan Digital Sky Survey
(SDSS), and the 2 Micron All Sky Survey (2MASS). Also found in the NVO are NASA
's rich data collections including data from the Hubble Space Telescope
, the Chandra X-ray Observatory
, the Spitzer Space Telescope
, and other space
-based missions. NVO provides access to a variety of additional data from nearly every astronomical research facility, observatory, and telescope across the globe.
, California Institute of Technology
, Space Telescope Science Institute
, NOAO, Infrared Processing and Analysis Center
, San Diego Supercomputer Center
, and the Associated Universities, Inc
. Affiliate organizations with participating teams include include Goddard Space Flight Center
, Carnegie Mellon University
, University of Pittsburgh
, National Center for Supercomputing Applications
, Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory
, University of Southern California
, Fermilab
, United States Naval Observatory
, the University of Wisconsin–Madison
, and National Radio Astronomy Observatory
. The NVO, a US effort, has affiliates throughout the international astronomical community including IVOA
, AstroGrid
(UK), Euro-VO
, the Japanese VO, the Australian VO, VO India and ten other national programs.
al and outreach resources on the Virtual Observatory website. The modest NVO Education and Public Outreach (EPO) effort is coordinated from Space Telescope Science Institute
. The NVO provides technical support for the development of educational modules integrated into partner programs. NVO EPO coordinates activities with the international communities as well.
National Science Foundation
The National Science Foundation is a United States government agency that supports fundamental research and education in all the non-medical fields of science and engineering. Its medical counterpart is the National Institutes of Health...
(NSF) funds the information technology research that created the basic NVO infrastructure through a multi-organization collaborative effort. The NVO is more than a “digital library”; it is a vibrant, growing online research facility akin to a bricks-and-mortar observatory for professional astronomers.
Concept
The NVO was conceived to allow scientists to grapple with the enormous growth in astronomical data resulting from significant advances in telescopeTelescope
A telescope is an instrument that aids in the observation of remote objects by collecting electromagnetic radiation . The first known practical telescopes were invented in the Netherlands at the beginning of the 1600s , using glass lenses...
, detector
Sensor
A sensor is a device that measures a physical quantity and converts it into a signal which can be read by an observer or by an instrument. For example, a mercury-in-glass thermometer converts the measured temperature into expansion and contraction of a liquid which can be read on a calibrated...
, and computer
Computer
A computer is a programmable machine designed to sequentially and automatically carry out a sequence of arithmetic or logical operations. The particular sequence of operations can be changed readily, allowing the computer to solve more than one kind of problem...
technologies. These advances have resulted in a plethora of images, other data, and catalogs. In August 2001, the NSF allocated funding for a proposal entitled "Framework for the National Virtual Observatory
Virtual Observatory
Virtual observatory is a collection of interoperating data archives and software tools which utilize the internet to form a scientific research environment in which astronomical research programs can be conducted....
". The grant was approved under its Information Technology Research program (since superseded). Current NVO funding supports collaboration to produce a distributed computing framework for an integrated cyber infrastructure for astronomer
Astronomer
An astronomer is a scientist who studies celestial bodies such as planets, stars and galaxies.Historically, astronomy was more concerned with the classification and description of phenomena in the sky, while astrophysics attempted to explain these phenomena and the differences between them using...
s providing seamless access to these astronomical resources.
The manifestation of this infrastructure will be an operational “virtual observatory” available to scientists and to the public. Investigators acquire existing astronomical data from a variety of observatory archive
Archive
An archive is a collection of historical records, or the physical place they are located. Archives contain primary source documents that have accumulated over the course of an individual or organization's lifetime, and are kept to show the function of an organization...
s through “virtual instruments”, that is, computer interfaces, tools, and services. The NVO is planned and implemented in synergy with the research community, the primary users of the system. In 2007, the operational stage of the NVO will begin with combined funding from NSF and NASA
NASA
The National Aeronautics and Space Administration is the agency of the United States government that is responsible for the nation's civilian space program and for aeronautics and aerospace research...
and programmatically executed through NSF. Scientists access the NVO through the NVO website.
Data
Data are available from a variety of observatories and wavelengthWavelength
In physics, the wavelength of a sinusoidal wave is the spatial period of the wave—the distance over which the wave's shape repeats.It is usually determined by considering the distance between consecutive corresponding points of the same phase, such as crests, troughs, or zero crossings, and is a...
s, including NSF
National Science Foundation
The National Science Foundation is a United States government agency that supports fundamental research and education in all the non-medical fields of science and engineering. Its medical counterpart is the National Institutes of Health...
's National Optical Astronomy Observatory
National Optical Astronomy Observatory
The National Optical Astronomy Observatory is the United States national observatory for ground based nighttime ultraviolet-optical-infrared astronomy. The National Science Foundation funds NOAO to provide forefront astronomical research facilities for US astronomers...
(NOAO), National Radio Astronomy Observatory
National Radio Astronomy Observatory
The National Radio Astronomy Observatory is a Federally Funded Research and Development Center of the United States National Science Foundation operated under cooperative agreement by Associated Universities, Inc for the purpose of radio astronomy...
(NRAO), the Sloan Digital Sky Survey
Sloan Digital Sky Survey
The Sloan Digital Sky Survey or SDSS is a major multi-filter imaging and spectroscopic redshift survey using a dedicated 2.5-m wide-angle optical telescope at Apache Point Observatory in New Mexico, United States. The project was named after the Alfred P...
(SDSS), and the 2 Micron All Sky Survey (2MASS). Also found in the NVO are NASA
NASA
The National Aeronautics and Space Administration is the agency of the United States government that is responsible for the nation's civilian space program and for aeronautics and aerospace research...
's rich data collections including data from the Hubble Space Telescope
Hubble Space Telescope
The Hubble Space Telescope is a space telescope that was carried into orbit by a Space Shuttle in 1990 and remains in operation. A 2.4 meter aperture telescope in low Earth orbit, Hubble's four main instruments observe in the near ultraviolet, visible, and near infrared...
, the Chandra X-ray Observatory
Chandra X-ray Observatory
The Chandra X-ray Observatory is a satellite launched on STS-93 by NASA on July 23, 1999. It was named in honor of Indian-American physicist Subrahmanyan Chandrasekhar who is known for determining the maximum mass for white dwarfs. "Chandra" also means "moon" or "luminous" in Sanskrit.Chandra...
, the Spitzer Space Telescope
Spitzer Space Telescope
The Spitzer Space Telescope , formerly the Space Infrared Telescope Facility is an infrared space observatory launched in 2003...
, and other space
Space
Space is the boundless, three-dimensional extent in which objects and events occur and have relative position and direction. Physical space is often conceived in three linear dimensions, although modern physicists usually consider it, with time, to be part of a boundless four-dimensional continuum...
-based missions. NVO provides access to a variety of additional data from nearly every astronomical research facility, observatory, and telescope across the globe.
Collaboration
The NVO development project is distributed across many institutions and includes teams at the Johns Hopkins UniversityJohns Hopkins University
The Johns Hopkins University, commonly referred to as Johns Hopkins, JHU, or simply Hopkins, is a private research university based in Baltimore, Maryland, United States...
, California Institute of Technology
California Institute of Technology
The California Institute of Technology is a private research university located in Pasadena, California, United States. Caltech has six academic divisions with strong emphases on science and engineering...
, Space Telescope Science Institute
Space Telescope Science Institute
The Space Telescope Science Institute is the science operations center for the Hubble Space Telescope and for the James Webb Space Telescope...
, NOAO, Infrared Processing and Analysis Center
Infrared Processing and Analysis Center
The Infrared Processing and Analysis Center is the NASA science center responsible for the data processing, analysis, and archiving of NASA's infrared astronomy and astrophysics missions...
, San Diego Supercomputer Center
San Diego Supercomputer Center
The San Diego Supercomputer Center is an organized research unit of the University of California, San Diego . Physically, SDSC is located on the east end of Eleanor Roosevelt College on the campus of UCSD....
, and the Associated Universities, Inc
Associated Universities, Inc
Associated Universities, Inc. is a research management corporation that builds and operates facilities for the research community. AUI is a not-for-profit 501 corporation, headquartered in Washington, DC. The President and Chief Executive Officer is Ethan J. Schreier...
. Affiliate organizations with participating teams include include Goddard Space Flight Center
Goddard Space Flight Center
The Goddard Space Flight Center is a major NASA space research laboratory established on May 1, 1959 as NASA's first space flight center. GSFC employs approximately 10,000 civil servants and contractors, and is located approximately northeast of Washington, D.C. in Greenbelt, Maryland, USA. GSFC,...
, Carnegie Mellon University
Carnegie Mellon University
Carnegie Mellon University is a private research university in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, United States....
, University of Pittsburgh
University of Pittsburgh
The University of Pittsburgh, commonly referred to as Pitt, is a state-related research university located in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, United States. Founded as Pittsburgh Academy in 1787 on what was then the American frontier, Pitt is one of the oldest continuously chartered institutions of...
, National Center for Supercomputing Applications
National Center for Supercomputing Applications
The National Center for Supercomputing Applications is an American state-federal partnership to develop and deploy national-scale cyberinfrastructure that advances science and engineering. NCSA operates as a unit of the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign but it provides high-performance...
, Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory
Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory
The Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory is a research institute of the Smithsonian Institution headquartered in Cambridge, Massachusetts, where it is joined with the Harvard College Observatory to form the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics .-History:The SAO was founded in 1890 by...
, University of Southern California
University of Southern California
The University of Southern California is a private, not-for-profit, nonsectarian, research university located in Los Angeles, California, United States. USC was founded in 1880, making it California's oldest private research university...
, Fermilab
Fermilab
Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory , located just outside Batavia, Illinois, near Chicago, is a US Department of Energy national laboratory specializing in high-energy particle physics...
, United States Naval Observatory
United States Naval Observatory
The United States Naval Observatory is one of the oldest scientific agencies in the United States, with a primary mission to produce Positioning, Navigation, and Timing for the U.S. Navy and the U.S. Department of Defense...
, the University of Wisconsin–Madison
University of Wisconsin–Madison
The University of Wisconsin–Madison is a public research university located in Madison, Wisconsin, United States. Founded in 1848, UW–Madison is the flagship campus of the University of Wisconsin System. It became a land-grant institution in 1866...
, and National Radio Astronomy Observatory
National Radio Astronomy Observatory
The National Radio Astronomy Observatory is a Federally Funded Research and Development Center of the United States National Science Foundation operated under cooperative agreement by Associated Universities, Inc for the purpose of radio astronomy...
. The NVO, a US effort, has affiliates throughout the international astronomical community including IVOA
IVOA
The International Virtual Observatory Alliance or IVOA is a worldwide scientific organisation formed in June 2002. Its mission is to facilitate international coordination and collaboration necessary for enabling global and integrated access to data gathered by astronomical observatories. An...
, AstroGrid
AstroGrid
AstroGrid is a £7.7M project which built a data-grid for UK astronomy, forming part of the UK contribution to the International Virtual Observatory. AstroGrid announced its first full production release on 1 April 2008....
(UK), Euro-VO
Euro-VO
The European Virtual Observatory or EURO-VO project aims at deploying an operational Virtual Observatory in Europe. Its objectives are technology take-up and VO compliant resource provision, building the technical infrastructure and to support its utilization by the scientific community.The EURO-VO...
, the Japanese VO, the Australian VO, VO India and ten other national programs.
Public Access
Along with its objective to serve the scientific community by enabling research through distributed data sources and services, the NVO intends to serve the public through educationEducation
Education in its broadest, general sense is the means through which the aims and habits of a group of people lives on from one generation to the next. Generally, it occurs through any experience that has a formative effect on the way one thinks, feels, or acts...
al and outreach resources on the Virtual Observatory website. The modest NVO Education and Public Outreach (EPO) effort is coordinated from Space Telescope Science Institute
Space Telescope Science Institute
The Space Telescope Science Institute is the science operations center for the Hubble Space Telescope and for the James Webb Space Telescope...
. The NVO provides technical support for the development of educational modules integrated into partner programs. NVO EPO coordinates activities with the international communities as well.