Related papers: Virtual Data Cosmos -- Information Design in Moder…

The virtual observatory (VO) is a collection of interoperable data archives, tools and applications that together form an environment in which original astronomical research can be carried out. The VO is opening up new ways of exploiting…

We introduce a general range of science drivers for using the Virtual Observatory (VO) and identify some common aspects to these as well as the advantages of VO data access. We then illustrate the use of existing VO tools to tackle multi…

We shall present with examples how analysis of astronomy data can be used for an educational purpose to train students in methods of data analysis, statistics, programming skills and research problems. Special reference will be made to our…

X-ray observations of galaxies have grown from a curiosity into a full-fledged field of astronomy. These observations provide unique information on black holes, binary stars, and the hot phase of the ISM, which can be used to constrain the…

Galaxies are key objects for the study of cosmology, the life cycle of matter, and stellar evolution. X-ray observations have given us a new key window into these building blocks of the Universe, that allows us to investigate their hot…

Bold colour images from telescopes act as extraordinary ambassadors for research astronomers because they pique the public's curiosity. But are they snapshots documenting physical reality? Or are we looking at artistic spacescapes created…

Activities related to access to astronomical facilities and data could offer an effective, entry-level path for outreach and astronomy education. The Government of Italy proposed the Open Universe initiative that was adopted by the United…

XMM-Newton provides unprecedented insight into the X-ray Universe, recording variability information for hundreds of thousands of sources. Manually searching for interesting patterns in light curves is impractical, requiring an automated…

Since its inception in the early 2000, the Virtual Observatory (VO), developed as a collaboration of many national and international projects, has become a major factor in the discovery and dissemination of astronomical information…

We review the current status of studies of large-scale structure in the X-ray Universe. After motivating the use X-rays for cosmological purposes, we discuss the various approaches used on different angular scales including X-ray background…

We review some of the recent developments and challenges posed by the data analysis in modern digital sky surveys, which are representative of the information-rich astronomy in the context of Virtual Observatory. Illustrative examples…

Sky surveys produce enormous quantities of data on extensive regions of the sky. The easiest way to access this information is through catalogues of standardised data products. {\em XMM-Newton} has been surveying the sky in the X-ray,…

To maximize the discovery potential of future synoptic surveys, especially in the field of transient science, it will be necessary to use automatic classification to identify some of the astronomical sources. The data mining technique of…

The analysis and an efficient scientific exploration of the Digital Palomar Observatory Sky Survey (DPOSS) represents a major technical challenge. The input data set consists of 3 Terabytes of pixel information, and contains a few billion…

Astronomy has a long history of acquiring, systematizing, and interpreting large quantities of data. Starting from the earliest sky atlases through the first major photographic sky surveys of the 20th century, this tradition is continuing…

My Ph.D. Thesis is devoted to the study of groups and clusters of galaxies in the X-ray band. This field has been very active in the last ten years, thanks to the data gathered from the Chandra and XMM satellites. Clusters of galaxies are…

The need for the development of automatic tools to explore astronomical databases has been recognized since the inception of CCDs and modern computers. Astronomers already have developed solutions to tackle several science problems, such as…

Astronomers are good at sharing data, but poorer at sharing knowledge. Almost all astronomical data ends up in open archives, and access to these is being simplified by the development of the global Virtual Observatory (VO). This is a great…

Thanks to the large collecting area (3 x ~1500 cm$^2$ at 1.5 keV) and wide field of view (30' across in full field mode) of the X-ray cameras on board the European Space Agency X-ray observatory XMM-Newton, each individual pointing can…

Effective data visualization is a key part of the discovery process in the era of big data. It is the bridge between the quantitative content of the data and human intuition, and thus an essential component of the scientific path from data…