Organizations and Strategies in Astronomy Volume 6

353 Pages·2006·11.463 MB·English

by  André Heck

ORGANIZATIONS AND STRATEGIES IN ASTRONOMY 6
ASTROPHYSICS AND
SPACE SCIENCE LIBRARY
VOLUME 335
EDITORIALBOARD
Chairman
W.B. BURTON,National Radio Astronomy Observatory, Charlottesville, Virginia, U.S.A.
([email protected]); University of Leiden, The Netherlands ([email protected])
Executive Committee
J. M. E. KUIJPERS, University of Nijmegen, The Netherlands
E. P. J. VAN DEN HEUVEL, University of Amsterdam, The Netherlands
H. VAN DER LAAN, University of Utrecht, The Netherlands
MEMBERS
F. BERTOLA, University of Padua, Italy
J. P. CASSINELLI, University of Wisconsin, Madison, U.S.A.
C. J. CESARSKY, European Southern Observatory, Garching bei München, Germany
O. ENGVOLD, University of Oslo, Norway
A. HECK, Strassbourg Astronomical Observatory, France
R. McCRAY, University of Colorado, Boulder, U.S.A.
P. G. MURDIN, Institute of Astronomy, Cambridge, U.K.
F. PACINI, Istituto Astronomia Arcetri, Firenze, Italy
V. RADHAKRISHNAN, Raman Research Institute, Bangalore, India
K. SATO, School of Science, The University of Tokyo, Japan
F. H. SHU, National Tsing Hua University, Taiwan
B. V. SOMOV, Astronomical Institute, Moscow State University, Russia
R. A. SUNYAEV, Space Research Institute, Moscow, Russia
Y. TANAKA, Institute of Space and Astronautical Science, Kanagawa, Japan
S. TREMAINE,Princeton University, U.S.A.
N. O. WEISS, University of Cambridge, U.K.
ORGANIZATIONS
AND STRATEGIES
IN ASTRONOMY
VOLUME 6
Edited by
ANDRÉHECK
Strasbourg Astronomical Observatory,
France
AC.I.P. Catalogue record for this book is available from the Library of Congress.
ISBN-10 1-4020-4055-5 (HB)
ISBN-13 978-1-4020-4055-9 (HB)
ISBN-10 1-4020-4056-3 (e-book)
ISBN-13 978-1-4020-4056-6 (e-book)
Published by Springer,
P.O. Box 17, 3300 AADordrecht, The Netherlands.
www.springer.com
Printed on acid-free paper
All Rights Reserved
© 2006 Springer
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Printed in the Netherlands.
Table of contents
• Foreword
(C. Cesarsky/ESO) vii
• Editorial 1
• The Evolving Sociology of Ground-Based Optical
and Infrared Astronomy at the Start of the 21st Century
(J.R. Roy & M. Mountain/Gemini Obs.) 11
• Building Astronomy Research Capacity in Africa
(P. Martinez/SAAO) 39
• Astronomy in New Zealand
(J.B. Hearnshaw/Univ. Canterbury) 63
• The Current State of Austrian Astronomy
(S. Schindler/Univ. Innsbruck) 87
• Challenges and Opportunities in Operating
a High-Altitude Site
(R. Stencel/Denver Univ.) 97
• An Insider’s Perspective
on Observing Time Selection Committees
(J.L. Linsky/JILA) 111
• Evaluation and Selection of Solar Observing Programs
(H. Uitenbroek/NSO) 117
• Evaluation and Selection of Radio Astronomy Programs:
The Case of the 100m Radio Telescope at Effelsberg
(R. Schwartz, A. Kraus & J.A. Zensus/MPIfR) 125
• The Development of HST Science Metrics
(J.P. Madrid, F.D. Macchetto, Cl. Leitherer/STScI
& G. Meylan/EPFL) 133
• The Science News Metrics
(C.A. Christian/STScI & G. Davidson/Northrop Grumman) 145
v
vi TABLE OF CONTENTS
• A Citation-Based Measure of Scientific Impact Within Astronomy
(F.R. Pearce/Nottingham Univ. & D.A. Forbes/Swinburne Univ.) 157
• A Comparison of the Citation Counts in the Science Citation Index
and the NASA Astrophysics Data System
(H.A. Abt/KPNO) 169
• Letters to the Editor of the AAS Newsletter:
A Personal Story
(J.L. Linsky/JILA) 175
• Space Law
(J. Hermida/Dalhousie Univ.) 191
• Search Strategies for Exoplanets
(R. Rebolo/IAC) 205
• IAU Initiatives
Relating to the Near-Earth Object Impact Hazard
(H. Rickman/Uppsala Obs.) 225
• AFOEV: Serving Variable-Star Observers since 1921
– An Interview with E´mile Schweitzer/AFOEV 243
• The International Planetarium Society:
A Community of Planetarians Facing the Challenges
of the 21st Century 253
(C.C. Petersen/Loch Ness Prod.)
• The Hands-On Universe Project
(R. Ferlet/IAP & C.R. Pennypacker/UCB) 275
• Outreach from the Jodrell Bank Observatory
(I. Morison & T. O’Brien/JBO) 287
• Astronomy Multimedia Public Outreach in France and Beyond
(A. Cirou/Ciel & Espace) 299
• Astronomers and the Media: What Reporters Expect
(T. Siegfried & A. Witze/Dallas Morning News & Nature) 311
• Updated Bibliography of Socio-Astronomy 321
FOREWORD
WhenIwasachild,growingupinSouthAmerica,Ioftenwentcamping
in the wild and hence had direct access to the wondrous Southern sky;
the Southern Cross was all mine at the time. Little did I know then that
the study of the sky would take such a huge importance in my life, and
that in the end astronomy and astrophysics would in many ways become
my country and my religion. I have lived in several different countries, and
whenaskedmynationality,Iamalwaysverytemptedtoreply:astronomer.
I started as a theorist, and my only dream in my youth was to spend
nights thinking and calculating, with paper and pencil, and to have the
impression by dawn that I had understood something new. So at the time
astronomy was seen or dreamt by me as a solitary endeavour, with periodic
encounters with my wise adviser and professors; it is this model that I
adopted when doing my PhD work.
My generation has lived through many revolutions of all kinds. Those
in astronomy, I believe, remain particularly remarkable, and I am a true
product of them. Now, I elect to live and work in large organizations, and
to share my endeavours with many people. And I relish the series of Andr´e
Heck on Organizations and Strategies in Astronomy, which help us recover
our memories, reconstitute our own story, and read with glee about our
neighbouring or far-away colleagues.
Astronomy, fortunately, still remains a discipline where the interested
practitioner can still, if he or she really wishes, try to maintain a broad
view of what is happening, even though the pace of discoveries has become
so incredibly fast. Also, as shown in this volume by the article by Pearce
among others, there is still room in our field for the individual researcher
toexistandleavehismark;ofcourse,thisisparticularlytrueforthosewho
are the most gifted, but more modest astronomers can still make an iden-
tifiable contribution. And I am not necessarily thinking of new discoveries
recognized, e.g. by the number of citations, but by the intimate knowledge
by the scientist that a given advance is due to his own spark of genius,
understanding and/or luck. In astronomy, this can still co-exist with orga-
vii
viii FOREWORD
nizations, even the large organizations which have proven to be mandatory
if astronomers want collectively carry out their most ambitious projects.
The other key word these days, and Andr´e clearly is a precursor here,
is strategy. We are all intent on developing strategic plans, road maps,
and the like. Now, what is strategy? Here, I remember that I am French,
not only astronomer. Strategy is, as Napoleon well knew, “The science of
military command, or the science of projecting campaigns and directing
great military movements”. And this requires clear goals. At a particularly
strategy focused meeting of the ESO Council, its President, Piet van der
Kruit, reminded us of the words of the base-ball player Yogi Berra “If you
don’tknowwhereyouaregoing,youmightwindupsomeplaceelse”.Goals,
plans ...and adversaries?
Now: one new message heralded these days by politicians and strategy-
prone astronomers throughout the world is: “Astronomers of the world,
federate”. Astronomy is of course the most universal of all sciences, but
this, alas, is not the only reason for this newly emerging consensus. Sadly,
even us, ethereal beings living in heaven, have sometimes to be reminded
of the value of money. The other message, the old one, remains almost
subliminal these days: “Astronomers of the world, compete! ” For what is
more exciting and stimulating than to try to arrive there before somebody
else? Snatch a discovery? We all relish that. The solution may be what,
at ESO, we call friendly coopetition. Perhaps a good subject in this series
some other time!
Catherine Cesarsky
[email protected]
ESO Director General
IAU President-Elect
May 2005.
EDITORIAL
A Matter of Words
– No, Your Majesty, Scotmen do not wear skirts. They wear kilts.
– Kilts?
– Kilts. A matter of words perhaps, but words are important.
– Why are words important?
– If you cannot say what you mean, Your Majesty, you will never mean
what you say. And a gentleman should always mean what he says.
[TheLastEmperor(Bertolucci/Peploe1987)]
Scientists,andastronomersinparticular,knowthevalueofwordsandof
theirmeaning,adisciplineofdiscoursefailingwhichnoscientificrigorwould
be possible. The scientific microcosms, if self-consistently well-defined, may
however offer interconnecting pitfalls1, requiring people involved in inter-
disciplinary collaborations to agree on the vocabulary, thus avoiding em-
barrassing, time-wasting and occasionally dramatic misunderstandings.
Substantial care has also to be put nowadays in the wording towards
large audiences and, in particular, via the Internet and the World-Wide
Web. Goldman (1998) explains how some web pages of Sky & Telescope
had to be re-written. An expression such as “naked eye” had to be replaced
by“unaidedeye”or“unassistedeye”toavoidfilteringbysoftwarepackages
considering that the site was using indecent terms and advising parents to
alert the authorities against that threat to their children ...
Astronomyhadalsotofaceidentityissuesregardingtheobjectsitstud-
ies.Theverysimplestructureofconstellationsitselfhadtogetstraightened.
Because of the non-rigorous delimitation of these in the past, stars could
belong to several asterisms. The star with the Arabic name Al Nath, aka
β Tauri, was also named γ Aurigae in the past. A rigorous definition of 88
constellations covering the whole sky with no overlap took place only well
1A good example is the word parameter with differing meanings in mathematics and
in the physical sciences.
1
A. Heck (ed.), Organizations and Strategies in Astronomy 6, 1–10.
© 2006 Springer. Printed in the Netherlands.