EAGER: Capturing the Stars: Exploring Digitization of Photographic Glass Plates for Scientific Analysis

位于威斯康星州威廉斯湾的历史悠久的耶尔克斯天文台自1897年以来一直为天文学和天体物理学的研究和教育做出贡献。天文台有17万多块天文玻璃照相板和观测日志，它们在历史上和研究中都很重要，但由于目前的地理位置和相当脆弱的状态，基本上无法进入。该项目将研究、分析和开发使用经济上可获得的设备将玻璃板数字化的方法和程序。它还将研究如何从航海日志中转录复杂的数据，并评估如何最好地使世界各地的研究人员和历史学家能够访问和使用所有车牌图像和元数据记录。该项目包括图书馆员和天文学家之间的合作，并为本科生提供有偿研究机会。它将促进科学和历史研究，并创建可公开访问的数据，这些数据将成为天文学教育和推广的来源。通过为天文玻璃板收藏的数字化创造可扩展和具有成本效益的做法，这项工作将有助于保护和保存独特和不可替代的观测档案。这些数据将是对时间域天文学最有价值的贡献，并为天文学史增加丰富的原始来源信息。这一奖项反映了NSF的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的智力优势和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。

The historic Yerkes Observatory in Williams Bay Wisconsin has contributed to research and education in astronomy and astrophysics since 1897. The Observatory has over 170,000 astronomical glass photographic plates and observational logbooks which are important both historically and for research, but which are largely inaccessible due to their present geographical location and their rather fragile state. This project will research, analyze and develop both methods and procedures to use financially accessible equipment to digitize the glass plates. It will also work out how to transcribe complex data from the logbooks, and evaluate how best to make all of the plate images and meta-data records accessible and usable by researchers and historians worldwide. The project includes collaboration between librarians and astronomers and provides paid research opportunities to undergraduates. It will facilitate scientific and historical research, and create openly accessible data that will be a source for astronomy education and outreach. By creating scalable and cost-effective practices for digitization of astronomical glass plate collections, this work will help to protect and preserve unique and irreplaceable observational archives. These data will be a most valuable contribution to time domain astronomy, and add a wealth of primary source information to the history of astronomy.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.