From: Jim Heasley Date: December 12, 2007 12:17:05 PM HST To: grads@ifa.hawaii.edu Cc: sanders@ifa.hawaii.edu Subject: Astro 736-1 Astronomical Databases - spring '08 Astronomy 736-1 Astronomical Databases The next generation of digital sky surveys such as Pan-STARRS and LSST will generate massive amounts of information. Databases will be important tools through which astronomers can access these data. This seminar will introduce the student to the following topics: -- historical examples of astronomical databases -- the history & development of relational databases -- principles of database design -- Structured Query Language (SQL) -- data warehousing -- data mining -- the virtual observatory The seminar will draw upon examples from both the current Sloan Digital Sky Survey database and the PS1 database that is currently being developed for Pan-STARRS. Jim Heasley Institute for Astronomy heasley@ifa.hawaii.edu University of Hawaii phone: 808-956-6826 2680 Woodlawn Drive fax: 808-956-9580 Honolulu, HI 96822