Searching the sky for clues to the age of the universe, understanding our place in the skies, learning more about our cosmic neighbors--"astronomical questions generate enormous quantities of data among researchers. Thanks to Penn State’s new Center for Astrostatistics, analyzing the data is getting easier. The center brings together statisticians and astronomers to help develop statistical expertise within the field of astronomy and other observational sciences.

“As the nature of observational astronomy has changed, going from single astronomers watching a handful of objects to teams of astronomers locating millions of objects as part of large digital sky surveys, the necessity for statistical analysis has increased,” said Dr. G. Jogesh Babu, director of the center and professor of statistics. “Statistical problems now involve many more issues than can be addressed by any single statistical method, field or statistician.” That’s why Babu and Dr. Eric D. Feigelson, professor of astronomy and astrophysics, created the center in 2003. The center, which receives funding from the National Science Foundation, conducts a wide range of activities, including:

• hosting international researchers, who collaborate with faculty and students, participate in workshops and summer schools, share common interests, conduct their own research, and help prepare the next generation of researchers
• holding summer programs for astronomers on statistical methods, spatial processes and image analysis
• collaborating with other partner institutions, including the Statistical and Applied Mathematical Sciences Institute in North Carolina, to develop workshops and other research and training programs
• organizing international conferences, including the fourth meeting on Statistical Challenges in Modern Astronomy, scheduled for June 2006, with Conferences and Institutes

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