Fergie's Tech Blog

Astronomer denies improper use of web data

Jeff Hecht writes in NewScientist:

A Spanish astronomer has admitted he accessed internet telescope logs of another astronomer's observations of a giant object orbiting beyond Neptune – but denies doing anything wrong.

Jose-Luis Ortiz of the Institute of Astrophysics of Andalusia in Granada told New Scientist that it was "perfectly legitimate" because he found the logs on a publicly available website via a Google search. But Mike Brown, the Caltech astronomer whose logs Ortiz uncovered, claims that accessing the information was at least "unethical" and may, if Ortiz misused the data, have crossed the line into scientific fraud.

The incident highlights two emerging controversies in astronomy. One is a clash between astronomers who report new objects immediately and those who wait until they have studied the objects thoroughly. A second is the acceptability of trawling websites used for communications and record-keeping to learn what other scientists are doing.

The dispute between Ortiz and Brown centres on an object now designated 2003 EL61. It is one of the largest solar system bodies known beyond Neptune and made headlines when Ortiz announced the discovery on 28 July 2005. That report stunned Brown, who had been watching the object for months and planned to describe it in September 2005 at the Division of Planetary Science conference in Cambridge, UK.

posted by Fergie @ 9/21/2005 10:56:00 AM