Towards a National Virtual Observatory

在不久的将来，几项新的调查将为天文学团体提供数十兆兆字节的编目数据。目前正在设计这些项目的档案。从调查中分离出来的档案需要整合成一个无缝互操作的实体。这个探索性研究的小赠款将调查一个实现这一目标的概念：一个国家“虚拟天文台”。社区与虚拟观测站的互动方式与现在与天基观测站的互动方式大体相同，或者与地面观测站的排队和远程观测方式大致相同。这笔赠款将为社区提供一个论坛，讨论虚拟天文台的概念，它整合了几个大型调查的档案，并为社区提供访问调查结果的途径。

ABSTRACT9876645In the near future several new surveys will provide tens of terabytes of cataloged data for the astronomy community. The archives for these projects are currently being designed. The separate archives from the surveys need to be integrated into a seamlessly interoperating entity. This Small Grant for Exploratory Research will investigate a concept for accomplishing this: a national "virtual observatory." The community would interact with the virtual observatory in much the same way that it now interacts with space-based observatories, or in queue and remote observing at ground-based observatories. This grant will provide a forum for the community to discuss the concept of a virtual observatory, which integrates the archives of several large surveys and provides access to the survey results for the community.