Key Topics

• Education and Public Outreach - The Education and Public Outreach (EPO) session covers a variety of activities by research institutes, universities, and institutions, aimed at promoting public awareness, understanding, and education in astronomy. This session provides material on the latest developments in EPO for astronomy and the tools and techniques used to create the EPO material for the public.
• Scientific Computing - The Scientific Computing session covers the latest advances concerned with constructing mathematical models and numerical solution techniques using computers to analyze and solve astronomy problems. This session includes material on the latest methods, algorithms, tools, and techniques being applied to solve numerical simulations, model fitting, data analysis, and computational optimization.
• Large Observatory Challenges - Large Observatories, both space-based and ground-based, are challenging to design, build, and operate. This session discusses the challenges faced by large observatories, the lessons learned, and future challenges envisioned for the next generation of large observatories.
• Cross Catalog Matching - More and more astronomy catalogs are becoming available on-line. Using information from multiple catalogs allows astronomers to get more information on their sources and enables better science. Even though cross-matching appears to be a simple concept ("Do you see a source where I see one?"), the statistics turn out to be quite challenging. This session discusses cross catalog matching algorithms, the tools currently available and envisioned, and the challenges faced today and in the future.
• Solar Astronomy - Solar Astronomy and solar physics are two branches of science that observe and study the Sun and attempt to explain and predict its behavior. This includes the study of solar events such as solar flares and coronal mass ejections (CME) that can effect the Earth and it magnetosphere, and measurement, causes, effects, and prediction of these events. This session discusses the current solar observatories, future observatories, and the science and algorithms that support solar science.
• Grid and Grid Virtualization - Grid Computing and Grid Virtualization allows institutions to apply a large number of processing cycles or access to large amounts of data to solve both scientific and technical problems. Grid computing applies the resources of many computers on a network to solve a problem, while grid virtualization allows for the creation of a virtual (rather than actual) version of those computer processes. This session discusses the application of this technology in the field of astronomy and future directions.