ADASS conference draws hundreds to the Netherlands

ADASS CONFERENCE DRAWS HUNDREDS TO THE NETHERLANDS

BY YAN GRANGE, ASTRON

The Astronomical Data Analysis Software and Systems (ADASS) conference is the place to be for astronomers, software engineers, and data specialists to discuss software and algorithms used in all aspects of astronomy.

The 29th edition of this annual conference was organised in Groningen, the Netherlands, from 6th to 10th October 2019. Many radio astronomers were among the more than 350 attendees, who represented 23 countries on six continents. The organisation is grateful to have had the SKA Organisation as one of its sponsors.

The talks, posters and tutorials were grouped under 11 themes, several of which were very relevant to the SKA community, including a session on the delivery of accessible and science-ready radio data, and one on telescope operations and scheduling.

Before ADASS kicked off, a hackathon - sprint like events in which computer programmers and experts involved in software development collaborate on software projects - took place involving top-tier local high-school students, with the winning team attending part of the event and receiving an award on stage. The week ended with a tour of the LOFAR and WSRT/APERTIF telescopes for more than 100 conference participants, giving them the chance to learn more about radio astronomy instrumentation. The programme and slides are available here: https://www.adass2019.nl.

Group photo taken on a visit to the Westerbork Synthesis Radio Telescope. Credit: Jelle de Plaa