Near-Field Cosmology, Data Processing and the Cambridge Astronomical Survey Unit

The Cambridge Astronomical Survey Unit (CASU) is part of the Institute of Astronomy, Cambridge University. This group is responsible for processing data for all the imaging surveys carried out on the ESO VISTA and VST telescopes and for all data taken on WFCAM at UKIRT, together with imaging and spectroscopic data from a range of other facilities worldwide. Expertise within the group covers a broad range of ground- and space-based projects, ranging from data processing and image analysis techniques to detailed statistical analysis, data curation and access to UK facility data archives.

Modern-era wide-field digital surveys produce vast amounts of data, and CASU is at the forefront of automatically processing and archiving these legacy products. This talk will give an overview of the activities at CASU, summarizing the data reduction techniques used for the various projects, and will use the recent progress in Near Field Cosmology as a demonstrator of the importance of these surveys in current astrophysical research.

Speaker: Dr. Mike Irwin, Cambridge Astronomical Survey Unit