A brief article appears about the astronomy.net initiative in the January
edition of the Institute of Electrical & Electronic Engineers (IEEE) Spectrum
magazine.
Those who are not IEEE members can still read the article online at
http://spectrum.ieee.org/jan08/5830
As an abstract ...
"Image-recognition software for astronomy pictures brings professional and amateur
astronomers together"
"Every night, thousands of amateur astronomers in their backyards point digital cameras and telescopes at the same bits of starry sky that professional scientists scan from mountaintop domes. Although both groups collect thousands of images, they rarely use one another’s results. While amateurs are more interested in aesthetics, professionals need hard numbers.
In a first step toward bridging this divide, a team of astronomers and computer scientists has created pattern-recognition software that may provide an easy way for the two groups to collaborate by making their astronomical images equally *searchable. The Web-based application, scheduled for a beta release in early 2008 at Astrometry.net, can analyze nearly any field of stars and, based on the particular geometric relationships of the stars, determine exactly which part of the sky the photo captures."
Read more online at
http://spectrum.ieee.org/jan08/5830
Gary Kopff
Proud IEEE Member for 30 years