Computing for Astronomy | Stoke-on-Trent and Staffordshire branch

Computers have formed an integral part of both amateur and professional astronomy since the early days of modern computing. Prior to the dawn of the computer age, assistant astronomers were sometimes called computers, performing calculations and analysing data by hand. Computers are now used everywhere in astronomy, from calculating the positions of celestial bodies and analysing images, to simulating stars, planetary atmospheres and the evolution of the universe. The talk will start with an introduction to astronomy, taking us from the local neighbourhood of our solar system to the large-scale universe of galaxies and clusters of galaxies. We will then look at how we observe the universe, explaining the principles of telescopes and imaging, including the recent revolution in relatively cheap smart telescopes. This will be followed by the websites and software that help us to decide what to observe and to process our astronomical images. We will finish by looking at computing in astronomy research with a brief overview of Andy's research using machine learning to find young stars in our Milky Way galaxy.