The Astronomer's Telegram: A Web‐based Short‐Notice Publication System for the

Professional Astronomical Community

Author(s): Robert E. Rutledge
Source: Publications of the Astronomical Society of the Pacific, Vol. 110, No. 748 (June
1998), pp. 754-756
Published by: Astronomical Society of the Pacific
Stable URL: https://www.jstor.org/stable/10.1086/316184
Accessed: 11-09-2020 05:39 UTC

JSTOR is a not-for-profit service that helps scholars, researchers, and students discover, use, and build upon a wide
range of content in a trusted digital archive. We use information technology and tools to increase productivity and
facilitate new forms of scholarship. For more information about JSTOR, please contact support@jstor.org.

Your use of the JSTOR archive indicates your acceptance of the Terms & Conditions of Use, available at
https://about.jstor.org/terms

Astronomical Society of the Pacific is collaborating with JSTOR to digitize, preserve and
extend access to Publications of the Astronomical Society of the Pacific

This content downloaded from 132.154.128.51 on Fri, 11 Sep 2020 05:39:48 UTC
All use subject to https://about.jstor.org/terms
Publications of the Astronomical Society of the Pacific, 110:754–756, 1998 June
q 1998. The Astronomical Society of the Pacific. All rights reserved. Printed in U.S.A.

The Astronomer’s Telegram: A Web-based Short-Notice Publication System for the

Professional Astronomical Community
Robert E. Rutledge
Department of Astronomy, University of California, Berkeley, CA 94720; rutledge@astron.berkeley.edu
Received 1998 February 23; accepted 1998 February 23

ABSTRACT. The Astronomer’s Telegram (ATEL) is a web-based short-notice (!4000 characters) publication
system for reporting and commenting on new astronomical observations, offering for the first time in astronomy
effectively instantaneous distribution of time-critical information for the entire professional community. It is
designed to take advantage of the World Wide Web’s simple user interface and the ability of computer programs
to provide nearly all the necessary functions. This makes ATEL fast, efficient, and free. In practice, one may
post a Telegram, which is instantly (!1 s) available at the web site and is distributed by e-mail within 24 hours
through the Daily Email Digest, which is tailored to the subject selections of each reader. In addition, authors
reporting new outbursts of transients or coordinates of new objects (for example, gamma-ray bursts or microlensing
events) may request distribution by Instant Email Notices, which instantly (∼minutes) distributes their new
Telegram by e-mail to self-identified workers interested in the same topic. This speed in distribution is obtained
because no editing or reviewing is performed after posting—the last person to review the text before distribution
is the author. Telegrams are enumerated chronologically, permanently archived, and referenceable. While ATEL
will be of particular use to observers of transient objects (such as gamma-ray bursts, microlenses, supernovae,
novae, or X-ray transients) or in fields that are rapidly evolving observationally, there are no restrictions on
subject matter.

1. INTRODUCTION form, but departs from traditional paper-based journals largely

by permitting greater flexibility in the medium of presentation
In recent years, use of the World Wide Web (WWW) among (color figures, time-evolved video, sound, and other media that
astronomers has become commonplace. Most individuals have can be distributed by the WWW).
their own web site, where they maintain a library of their recent There also exists a unique internet resource that permits the
preprints and professional information. Data from observatories widespread distribution of preprints from a single site—known
are often distributed through a web site, as well as observing as the e-Print archive (http://xxx.lanl.gov/). This allows as-
application forms; many observatories now require submission
tronomers, and practicing scientists in other fields, to distribute
of these application forms through a web interface. Nearly all
their preprinted articles prior to publication, and often prior to
major astronomical journals use the web to distribute their
a reading by a referee. This site has become the de facto means
refereed articles, often before they are available in paper form.
of communicating new results to the astronomical community,
These include The Astrophysical Journal (the main journal,
because those wishing to remain at the forefront of their field
Supplement, and Letters; http://www.journals.uchicago.edu/
ApJ/journal/), Astronomy and Astrophysics (http://link. require the most up-to-date work as soon as it is available and
springer.de/link/service/journals/00230/index.html), The Astro- are competent to evaluate the quality of the presented work
nomical Journal (http://www.journals.uchicago.edu/AJ/ themselves.
journal/), Publications of the Astronomical Society of the Pa- The main advantage of the WWW and internet distribution
cific (http://www.journals.uchicago.edu/PASP/journal/index. over the more traditional means of article publication has not
html), and Science (http://www.sciencemag.org/), although not yet been systematically exploited. This advantage is effectively
(yet) Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society, or instantaneous distribution of time-critical information. This ad-
Publications of the Astronomical Society of Japan. The journal vantage is most useful to observational astronomers who study
Nature (http://www.nature.com/) permits reading of its ab- transient objects—such as gamma-ray bursts, microlensing
stracts, but not text, on line simultaneously with the print events, galactic X-ray sources, novae, or supernovae—and to
publication. fields that are rapidly evolving observationally, such as (pres-
A web-based electronic journal of refereed articles—New ently) brown dwarfs, extrasolar planets, and millisecond pul-
Astronomy—is distributed by the WWW as well as in paper sars. This advantage is required more for the distribution of

754

This content downloaded from 132.154.128.51 on Fri, 11 Sep 2020 05:39:48 UTC
All use subject to https://about.jstor.org/terms
 ASTRONOMER’S TELEGRAM 755

short observational reports with a minimal amount of theoret- This timescale is loosely defined as the elapsed time between
ical interpretation than for the detailed presentation of results when the authors realize that they have information that will
and intricate (and perhaps controversial) interpretation, for be useful to other observers, and when these other observers
which refereed articles in traditional print journals are useful. receive that information.
ATEL eliminates what has hitherto been the determining
1.1. Previous Distribution of Time-critical Information factor in this timescale—time spent between the submission of
the information and its distribution—by eliminating all people
Time-critical information—such as the coordinates of new between the author and the means of distribution (the WWW
discoveries, recent intensity measurements in a variety of wave and e-mail).
bands, and rapid theoretical interpretation of behavior that has Thus, the design goals of ATEL are the following:
immediate implications for observations—has hitherto been
distributed through formal and informal networks. 1. Maximize the reliability and relevance of posted infor-
The most widely used formal network is the electronic In- mation; this is done by restricting the ability to post to pro-
ternational Astronomical Union Circulars (IAUCs; http:// fessional astronomers, requiring registration prior to posting of
cfa-www.harvard.edu/cfa/ps/cbat.html). Submitted text is re- a username and password or PGP public key, with the owner’s
viewed and edited by the editors, sometimes returned to the identity and professional status verified prior to activation. Ei-
author for changes, and distributed electronically between a ther an activated username and password or a signature from
few hours and a few days after submission. For some types of an activated PGP key is required when a Telegram is posted.
object (e.g., gamma-ray bursts, microlensing events), a delay 2. Provide a long-term, stable means of distribution.
time of a few days is the difference between a well-studied 3. Minimize the distribution time and maximize availability
object and a missed observational opportunity. The IAUCs also of posted Telegrams; this is accomplished by having all func-
operate as a referenceable repository of information, which tions performed by computer programs, executed through the
makes the author accountable for the presented results, pro- Web by distant users. The delay time for publication is therefore
viding motivation for the author to present reliable information. set by the computational speed of the host computer and the
Most fields of transient objects have developed their own speed of the WWW protocols, and presently is less than 1 s.
informal networks—sometimes consisting of e-mail exploders, 4. Provide an easy means of posting, reading, and searching
which redistribute messages to a list of interested individuals, Telegrams.
or even as informal as single individuals e-mailing received 5. Performing all these functions at zero cost at the point of
messages to everyone they know. These networks are typically use to both authors and readers.
advertised by “word of mouth” and are not often widely fa-
miliar, limiting the community of workers and thus the coverage
that one can obtain. Also, such informal networks are suscep-
tible to simple breakdowns in communication—owing to ab- 2.1. Functions and Use
sences of key distributors and the difficulty in manually main-
taining a relevant e-mail list over the long term. Also, because All interactions with ATEL occur through the WWW (at
of the informality of the information distribution, the distributed http://fire.berkeley.edu:8080/), where one may
information is not static, archived, or referenceable; often, one
does not know who produced the coordinates at which one is 1. Read posted Telegrams, sortable by subject, date, author,
to redirect one’s telescope for follow-on observations. This or user-defined keywords.
limits the reliability of and subsequent confidence in this in- 2. Sign up for the Daily Email Digest; if you specify those
formation, which is essential to other observers evaluating the subjects of interest to you, ATEL will e-mail to you, each day,
relevant Telegrams received during the previous 24 hr period.
information for the possibility of further observations.
No e-mail is sent if no such Telegrams are received.
3. Sign up for the Instant Email Notices; information that is
2. THE ASTRONOMER’S TELEGRAM extremely time critical, such as the coordinates of a newly
discovered object, are e-mailed at author request to those who
ATEL is a means to make use of the advantages offered by have asked to receive these in selected subject areas.
automation and the WWW for the information distribution 4. Post a Telegram for instant reading through the Web
needed by astronomers. and/or Instant Email Notices, and distribution within 24 hours
in the Daily Email Digest. Posted Telegrams may make use of
It is designed with the problem in mind that the limiting
HTML formatting, including links to other sites, where sup-
factor in observations of transient objects is the timescale of plementary information might be provided. Authors should
distribution of observational information—discoveries, mea- keep in mind that many readers will see their information in
surements, evolution, availability of finding charts, predictions ASCII e-mail, where some HTML formatting (such as TABLE)
for future behavior, and rapid pertinent interpretation of the may not be clear. Several HTML commands (specifically IMG,
observations that immediately affect observational planning. META, APPLET, FRAME, and HR) are presently not per-

1998 PASP, 110:754–756

This content downloaded from 132.154.128.51 on Fri, 11 Sep 2020 05:39:48 UTC
All use subject to https://about.jstor.org/terms
756 RUTLEDGE

mitted, to ensure the static nature of the content and to keep 3. CONCLUSIONS
the Web page layout uniform.
5. Submit for registration a username and password or PGP The Astronomer’s Telegram offers a publication method that
key, with which (once the identity and status of the user is was not previously available to the astronomical community,
verified) the user may post Telegrams. with effectively instantaneous distribution. This is useful, most
notably to observers of transient objects and to fields that are
Telegrams are posted and instantly available, which is pos- rapidly evolving. There are no restrictions on subject matter,
sible only because no review of the material (i.e., editing or and so it may be used by all astronomical professionals.
refereeing) takes place after submission. The version that the
author posts is the version available at the web site, and no
modifications by anyone may be made after the posting (HTML I am grateful for useful comments on this paper by G. Mag-
commands, however, are presently stripped from a Telegram nier and C. Moore. I am indebted to D. Fox, J. Kommers, C.
prior to e-mailing the Daily Email Digest or the Instant Email Moore, and P. Wojdowski for advice on the design and imple-
Notices). Authors who discover errors after posting must post mentation of the web site, and to L. Bildsten for providing a
an additional Telegram, delineating the error. location for the web site.

1998 PASP, 110:754–756

This content downloaded from 132.154.128.51 on Fri, 11 Sep 2020 05:39:48 UTC
All use subject to https://about.jstor.org/terms