It looks like the Central Bureau for Astronomical Telegrams (CBAT) will be pulling up stakes and moving to a new home. The CBAT is the official worldwide clearinghouse for new discoveries of comets, novae, supernovae, solar-system satellites, and transient astronomical events. CBAT also establishes priority of discovery (who gets credit for it) and assigns initial designations and names to new objects.
Since 1965, the CBAT has operated at the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics under the umbrella of the Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory (SAO). According to N. Brickhouse and C. Alcock (SAO), "As of 2010 Feb. 1, the SAO will no longer be hosting the Central Bureau for Astronomical Telegrams (CBAT) for the International Astronomical Union (IAU) because SAO has been unable to obtain sufficient funding to sustain the CBAT financially. The CBAT is working, with the support of the IAU, on a transition to a new sponsoring institution."
I guess nothing stays the same forever. It started out in Germany in 1882, moved to Denmark during World War II, then made its way to Harvard in 1965. Right now there is no official word where the CBAT will end up next, but according to IAU General Secretary, Dr. Ian F. Corbett, CBAT "will continue to operate with Dr. Dan Greene as Director, and every effort is being made to ensure no disruption of the CBAT's activities during the transition to its new home".
No comments:
Post a Comment