Towards a National Virtual Observatory

在不久的将来，几个新的调查将为天文学界提供数十tb的编目数据。目前正在设计这些项目的档案。来自调查的独立档案需要集成到一个无缝互操作的实体中。这项探索性研究小额赠款将研究一个实现这一目标的概念：一个国家“虚拟天文台”。社区将与虚拟天文台进行互动，就像现在与天基天文台进行互动一样，或者在地面天文台进行排队和远程观测。这笔拨款将为社区提供一个论坛来讨论虚拟天文台的概念，该虚拟天文台整合了几次大型调查的档案，并为社区提供了访问调查结果的机会。

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.