"Radio Astronomy for Programmers" - Mars Buttfield-Addison (LCA 2021 Online)

Mars Buttfield-Addison

https://lca2021.linux.org.au/schedule/presentation/35/

Space is cool, right? Of course it is! But ask any programmer you know how much they know about the technical implementations of how humans observe or operate in space? They'll likely be unable to tell you much. Because this is a domain entrenched in hardware and communications technologies we developers don't have to interact with often, if at all; to many, domain-specific hardware in a science like astronomy may as well be magic. But the same can be true for the other side; many of the highly technical personnel working in the space sciences--from astrophysicists to communications engineers--often know software practices only as far as it is required to construct scripts or maintain single libraries to run a pipeline whose parameters or requirements sometimes won't change for decades. Herein lies an interdisciplinary domain ripe for collaboration or specialisation.

This talk is a high-speed crash course in the some of the key data formats, units and terminology used in the domain of radio astronomy--particularly the kind of near-Earth observation that has become so critical to our mitigation of the ever-impending space debris crisis--for those from a software background. But there will be no circuit diagrams here; let's approach the topic with less maths and more drawings and mad gesturing, and to tell the great story of space observation that led us to this point and its impact on practices (particularly software practices) still in use today.

From the technical and socio-political determinants of core components like units of measurement and the conflicting standards for their conversion, to the slightly incorrect application of open source paradigms and the prevalence of sole maintainers. From the original FORTRAN, QBASIC and C libraries that still underlie the majority of this domain, to the costs of opting for one of the modern Python alternatives. And with a special focus on the particularities of Australia's own radio telescopy capabilities and publicly available resources.

In this tale of off-by-one errors and spherical trigonometry there is fun and humour to be found, as well as tools and lessons you can use to start delving into hard space science problems from your own computer: such as tracking satellite passes, interpreting analog-first telescope imagery, measuring the efficacy of different space surveillance systems, and more! All you need is some Python (or your own favourite language)!

linux.conf.au is a conference about the Linux operating system, and all aspects of the thriving ecosystem of Free and Open Source Software that has grown up around it. Run since 1999, in a different Australian or New Zealand city each year, by a team of local volunteers, LCA invites more than 500 people to learn from the people who shape the future of Open Source. For more information on the conference see https://linux.conf.au/

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Sun Jan 24 11:40:00 2021 at Rusty R. Hall

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