Observer versus software engineer: The dawn of the armchair astronomers

摘要

Traditional ground-based observatories have moved into a new era where the dominant consumers for their data products are astronomers who no longer come out to use the facility themselves. Using the JCMT and UKIRT as an example, we discuss the wide variety of software systems that are necessary for maintaining a high level of scientific involvement for the absentee observer. These include cradle-to-grave flexible scheduling support, advanced data reduction pipelines, VO integration and intelligent agent networks. Is the observational astronomer becoming an endangered species, and does this really matter?