Selected Topics on Data Analysis in Astronomy

The following sections are included:

• CONTENTS

• INTRODUCTION

The following sections are included:

• INTRODUCTION

• STELLAR ASTROPHYSICS

• PRESENT AND FUTURE OF STELLAR ASTROPHYSICS

• FINAL REMARKS

The following sections are included:

• INTRODUCTION

• THE FOURIER TRANSFORM (FT)

• DECONVOLUTI0N
  • The Dirty Map
  • Image Restoration
  • Clean and Restore
  • Maximum Entropy Method (MEM)

• SELF-CALIBRATION ALGORITHM

• IMAGING WITH VLBI DATA
  • Model Fitting
  • Hybrid Mapping Tecniques

• SPECTRAL LINE OBSERVATIONS

• ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

• REFERENCES

• FIGURE CAPTION

The following sections are included:

• INTRODUCTION

• X-RAY COSMIC SOURCES

• X-RAY ASTRONOMY DETECTORS

• CHARACTERISTIC FEATURES OF X-RAY ASTRONOMY DATA

• ENERGY SPECTRA ANALYSIS

• TIME VARIABILITY ANALYSIS

• IMAGE ANALYSIS

• References

The following sections are included:

• Introduction

• Basic Concepts
  • Image sampling
  • Noise distributions
  • Estimation

• Raw to Calibrated Data
  • Artifacts
  • Response Calibration
  • Geometric Corrections

• Image Manipulations
  • Digital Filters
  • Background Estimates
  • Transformations
  • Image Restoration

• Extraction of Information
  • Search Algorithms
  • Fitting of data

• Analysis of Results
  • Regression Analysis
  • Statistical Tests
  • Multivariate Statistical Methods

• References

In order to satisfy the continuous growth and evolution of computational demands, higher and higher computing speeds are continuously required. Many attempts to develop circuits and processor components that operate faster have been followed and of course continue to be pursued; however technology is not the only way to achieve higher computing speed: major improvements depend on computer architecture and processing techniques. Advanced computer architectures are centered around the concept of parallel processing. Parallelism must be considered at the hardware/software system level as well as at the algorithmic and programming level. The most significant paradigms of new computer architectures are described.

The hardware components and architectures for graphics and image display are shortly reviewed. A display system is seen as made up of three main parts: the display itself, the image memory and the image processors. For each of them a short description of the performances and features is presented.

The following sections are included:

• INTRODUCTION

• WHY SYSTEMS?

• PROJECT MANAGEMENT REASONS

• TECHNICAL REASONS

• THE TIME-SCALE PROBLEM

• WHAT END-USERS WANT

• DATA INTERCHANGE FORMATS

• PROJECT MANAGEMENT ISSUES

• THE EXPORT POLICY

• GROUP PROGRAMMING PSYCHOLOGY

• THE CASE FOR SYSTEM PORTABILITY

• HOW TO BUILD PORTABLE DATA ANALYSIS SYSTEMS

• ON THE DESIGN OF COMMAND LANGUAGES

• LAYERED VIRTUAL INTERFACES IN AIPS

• STATUS REPORT ON NRAO'S AIPS PROJECT

• AIPS DEVELOPMENT PLANS

• CONCLUSION

• DISCUSSION

• REFERENCES

• BIBLIOGRAPHY—FOR FURTHER READING

The following sections are included:

• INTRODUCTION

• PREDICTIONS FOR THE EARLY NINETIES

• EVOLUTION OF COMPUTER CAPACITIES

• UNIX IS COMING!

• GRAPHICS TECHNOLOGY

• MASSIVE ARCHIVAL STORAGE

• ADA AND PROJECT MANAGEMENT

• ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE TECHNOLOGY

• FILLING IN THE DETAILS

• UNIX DESIDERATA

• ICON-DRIVEN COMMAND LANGUAGES?

• AI AGAIN

• DISCUSSION

• REFERENCES

• BIBLIOGRAPHY—FOR FURTHER READING