Data science in Astronomy: Visualisation with CARTA v1.4
A new, sophisticated framework for visualising scientific data
How well professional Astronomers are able to visualise the data spewed out by powerful telescopes is the cornerstone to deepening our understanding of the distant Universe and discovering new phenomena taking place within it. When you think of the vast expanse that is the Cosmos, it is actually quite remarkable that instruments, over decades, have been able to image objects that existed millions sometimes billions of years ago. Last year’s image of the black-hole lurking at the centre of galaxy M87 left many in awe. For the first time in history, we have a resolved image of one of the most exotic and bizarre objects in space and its readily available for our easy viewing pleasure all due to our improved and improving ability to visualise telescope data.
Data visualisation is as fundamental to an Astronomer’s toolbox as it is to your typical Data Analyst. Though our software doesn’t resemble anything close to Tableau or {insert data analyst software}, we have a toolbox that mainly comprises image viewing and rendering tools known as SAOImageDs9, QFitsView and CASA, among several others used widely for scientific study.
