arXiv subjects

Keith Shortridge

Publications and source records attributed to Keith Shortridge.

21 records · Page 2Linked to original sources

arXiv2012

Bring out your codes! Bring out your codes! (Increasing Software Visibility and Re-use)

Progress is being made in code discoverability and preservation, but as discussed at ADASS XXI, many codes still remain hidden from public view. With the Astrophysics Source Code Library (ASCL) now indexed by the SAO/NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS), the introduction of a new journal, Astronomy & Computing, focused on astrophysics software, and the increasing success of education efforts such as Software Carpentry and SciCoder, the community has the opportunity to set a higher standard for its science by encouraging the release of software for examination and possible reuse. We assembled representatives of the community to present issues inhibiting code release and sought suggestions for tackling these factors. The session began with brief statements by panelists; the floor was then opened for discussion and ideas. Comments covered a diverse range of related topics and points of view, with apparent support for the propositions that algorithms should be readily available, code used to produce published scientific results should be made available, and there should be discovery mechanisms to allow these to be found easily. With increased use of resources such as GitHub (for code availability), ASCL (for code discovery), and a stated strong preference from the new journal Astronomy & Computing for code release, we expect to see additional progress over the next few years.

astro-ph.IM↗

arXiv2009

Talking Amongst Ourselves - Communication in the Astronomical Software Community

Meetings such as ADASS demonstrate that there is an enthusiasm for communication within the astronomical software community. However, the amount of information and experience that can flow around in the course of one, relatively short, meeting is really quite limited. Ideally, these meetings should be just a part of a much greater, continuous exchange of knowledge. In practice, with some notable - but often short-lived - exceptions, we generally fall short of that ideal. Keeping track of what is being used, where, and how successfully, can be a challenge. A variety of new technologies such as those roughly classed as 'Web 2.0' are now available, and getting information to flow ought to be getting simpler, but somehow it seems harder to find the time to keep that information current. This paper looks at some of the ways we communicate, used to communicate, have failed to communicate, no longer communicate, and perhaps could communicate better. It is presented in the hope of stimulating additional discussion - and possibly even a little action - aimed at improving the current situation.

astro-ph.IM↗

arXiv2006

Multi-Object Spectroscopy Field Configuration by Simulated Annealing

Multi-object spectroscopy (MOS) instruments, such as the Two-degree Field (2dF) facility of the Anglo-Australian Observatory (AAO), have facilitated large-scale redshift surveys. Yet despite their acclaim, instrument design has been suspected of introducing subtle selection effects into surveys. Investigation into these selection effects has been overshadowed by instrument complexity. We identify the field configuration algorithm (FCA) used to select targets for observation as mainly responsible for such effects. A FCA can imprint artificial structure on observed target distributions, which may accrue over large angular scales, potentially to the detriment of statistical analyses applied to such surveys. We present here a new FCA developed for 2dF that is based on simulated annealing (SA), a generic method commonly used to solve constrained optimisation problems. We generate synthetic fields and utilise mock 2dF volumes to contrast the behaviour of previous strategies with the SA FCA. The angular two-point correlation function and other sensitive techniques reveal that the new FCA achieves unprecedented sampling uniformity and target yield with improved target priority handling and observational flexibility over current FCAs. The SA FCA is generic enough to be used by current 2dF-like and potentially next-generation MOS instruments with little modification.

astro-ph↗