Astrostatistics: The Re-Emergence of a Statistical Discioline

摘要

If statistics can be generically understood as the science of collecting and analyzing data for the purpose of classification and prediction and of attempting to quantify and understand the uncertainty inherent in phenomena underlying data, surely astrostatistics must be considered as one of the oldest, if not the oldest, applications of statistical science to the study of nature. Astrostatistics is the discipline dealing with the statistical analysis of astronomical and astrophys-ical data. It also has been understood by most researchers in the area to incorporate astroinformat-ics, which is the science of gathering and digitalizing astronomical data for the purpose of analysis.