2010 programme

Statistical Software Development as an Example of a Citizen Sky Participant Team

David Benn

Astronomical Society of South Australia, American Association of Variable Star Observers

This poster, by Arne Henden, Director of the American Association of Variable Star Observers and David Benn et al, was first presented at the January 2010 American Astronomical Society meeting and is re-used at NACAA with Arne’s permission. Understanding of authentic science by most people cannot be realized by simply posing a problem and collecting data. Communities of practice are an important element of modern science where discoveries are rarely the result of a single person experiencing an "Eureka!" moment. A core feature of the Citizen Sky project is the development and support of teams of participants with different, yet complimentary skill sets who work together towards a common goal. It is within these teams where the aspect of scientific inquiry really becomes accessible. By working with and debating with other team members (which remains consistent over time), a real community can form - much like those of a real, modern scientific project. Each team has a team leader and a professional assigned to act as an advisor. We present a short history, some early products and lessons learned from our first pilot team. This team is developing an open-source, high-end statistical analysis software package, called VStar, that will be used by other members of the Citizen Sky project as well as the general astronomical community interested in time series data analysis.