Byurakan to hosts intl conference on astronomy, big data

PanARMENIAN.Net - A major international astronomy conference titled “Astronomical Surveys and Big Data – 3” will take place at the Byurakan Astrophysical Observatory from September 15 to 19.

The event marks two significant anniversaries: the 60th anniversary of the Markarian Survey and the 20th anniversary of the Armenian Virtual Observatory.

The ASBD series has become one of the observatory’s key recurring initiatives, following the success of ASBD 2015 and ASBD-2 in 2020.

The conference will bring together astronomers and data science experts working in the fields of astronomical surveys, databases, repositories, virtual observatories, and big data.

Focus areas include both historical and modern astronomical data, with sessions on the Markarian Survey and other key surveys, as well as exoplanetary and general astronomy topics. The program will address data digitization, archiving processes, big data applications, virtual observatory systems, analytical tools, and more.

Invited speakers include internationally recognized scientists such as Xavier Dupac (Spain), Clotilde Laigle (France), Vahe Petrosian (U.S.), Alex Szalay (U.S.), Chengzhue Sui (China), Michel Dennefeld (France), Lex Kaper (Netherlands), Johan Knapen (Spain), Ashish Mahabal (U.S.), Rainer Spurzem (Germany), and other leading experts.

The event is organized by the Byurakan Astrophysical Observatory (BAO), Armenian Astronomical Society (ArAS), Armenian Virtual Observatory (ArVO), the IAU South-West and Central Asian Regional Office of Astronomy for Development (SWCA ROAD), the RA Committee of Higher Education and Science, and the National Academy of Sciences of Armenia (NAS RA).