| A Data Center at the Hub of International Cooperation |
Strasbourg astronomical Data Center (CDS) is dedicated to the collection and worldwide distribution of astronomical data and related information.
The CDS hosts the SIMBAD astronomical database, the world reference database for the identification of astronomical objects; VizieR, the catalogue service for the CDS reference collection of astronomical catalogues and tables published in academic journals; and the Aladin interactive software sky atlas for access, visualization and analysis of astronomical images, surveys, catalogues, databases and related data. The CDS mission is to:
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| Maintenance, Innovation and Sustainability |
Alongside data curation and service maintenance responsibilities, the CDS undertakes R&D activities that are fundamental to ensure
the long term sustainability in a domain in which technology evolves
very quickly. R&D areas include informatics, big data, and development
of the astronomical Virtual Observatory (VO). CDS is a major actor
in the VO with leading roles in European VO projects, the
French Virtual Observatory and the
International Virtual Observatory
Alliance (IVOA).
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| Cooperation |
The CDS cooperates with the French Space Agency CNES, European Space Agency ESA, European Southern Observatory
ESO, NASA, the US National
Aeronautics and Space Administration (with a long term collaboration
with the Astrophysics Data System ADS and
the NASA Extragalactic
Database NED), astronomical academic journals, and with
other data and service providers around the world such as the
Inter-University Centre of Astronomy and Astrophysics (IUCAA),
the National Observatory of China (NAOC), the National
Observatory of Japan (NAOJ), and the Institute of
Astronomy of the Russian Academy of Sciences (INASAN).
CDS hosts mirrors of NASA ADS and of the
Astronomy and Astrophysics international journal.
CDS contributes to the XMM-Newton Survey Science Centre in collaboration
with the High-Energy team of Strasbourg Astronomical Observatory.
CDS is a member of the World Data System of the International Council for Science ICSU.
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| History |
The CDS was created in 1972 as the Stellar Data Centre and changed its name to Strasbourg astronomical
Data Centre in 1983. The CDS
has been a pioneer in the dissemination of added-value digital
scientific data. Major milestones include the revolution of web
technologies in the 1990's, and the development of the international
Virtual Observatory starting in ~2000.
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| Organisation and personnel |
The CDS is located at the Strasbourg Astronomical Observatory, France. The CDS is under the responsibility of the Institut National des Sciences
de l'Univers (INSU) of the CNRS, acting in agreement with the
University of Strasbourg. It is one of the Very Large Research
Infrastructures (Très Grande Infrastructure de Recherche or TGIR)
of the French Ministère de l'Enseignement Supérieur et
de la Recherche. It is also a team of Strasbourg Astronomical Observatory,
a joint research unit of CNRS-INSU and the University of Strasbourg.
The CDS team includes about 30 people (June 2012), of profiles nearly equally shared between astronomers, specialized librarians and software engineers.
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| Contact us |
Address: Centre de Données astronomiques de Strasbourg Observatoire de Strasbourg 11, rue de l'Université - 67000 STRASBOURG, France
Tel: +33-(0)3 68 85 24 75 - Fax: +33-(0)3 68 85 24 17
Email: cds-question@unistra.fr
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