Astronomical big data

Big Data plays an important role in the field of Astronomy which is immensely data rich. There has been a transformation in the field of astronomy,from traditional collection of data to digital ways of collecting data. Astronomical instruments can look farther into space than before and collect immense data.It is a great challenge to visualise the astronomical data sets.

The data sets are measured in multiple terabytes and in petabytes. One of the components used in this field is the variable tree which is a semantic tree of astronomical variables and transients. The CRTs (Catalina Real-Time Transient Survey) detects and publishes all transients in small amount of time. The volume of data can be observed in different colors with aound 500 million light curves data available. Brightness changes can be observed in examples of CRTs transients.

CRTs transients source:arizona.edu

One of the game changing technology introduced was the LSST (Large Synoptic Survey Telescope), it uses multiple filters to get IM transients every night and the data rate could be obtained upto 10 petabytes per second. The challenge lies between velocity and volatility. The variations in data obtained shows extreme levels which broadly classify the elements of astronomical observation. The variety of parameters is also a challenge. Crude classification can be ambiguous as different telescope and spectroscope provide different information.

In the data rich astronomy today, lots of data and derived data sets are available which needs early characterisation and incremental classification.These challenges can be taken up globally by groups  of astronomy enthusiasts helping to mine the pre existing data.