SPA Colloquium: Chris Lintott (Kaufmanis Lecturer)
Title: The interesting and unusual: Anomaly Detection in Astronomy’s Big Data Era
Abstract: Astrophysics has always made use of the unexpected, from unusual supernovae to the discovery of objects such as pulsars. As we enter an era dominated by data from facilities such as the Vera C Rubin Observatory, producing 30 Terabytes and 10 million alerts a night, this talk considers whether there’s still a place for anomalies, and how we might find them. Zooniverse co-founder Prof. Chris Lintott (University of Oxford/Gresham College) will use examples from nearly twenty years of citizen science to make the case for anomalies, including the most interesting star in the galaxy and an unusual light-echo, and then explore how modern machine learning can - and can’t - help us make these discoveries at Rubin scales.
Professor Chris Lintott is Professor of Astrophysics at the University of Oxford and Gresham Professor of Astronomy in London. He is best known for his work on galaxy formation and citizen science, leading the Zooniverse project which has enabled millions of volunteers worldwide to contribute to scientific discoveries—from distant galaxies to exoplanets and beyond. Alongside his academic work, Chris has presented the BBC’s The Sky at Night TV program for more than 25 years, is an occasional stand-up comic, and is a passionate advocate for public engagement in science. He’s the author of several popular science books, including ‘Accidental Astronomy' and ‘The Crowd and the Cosmos’, and combines deep expertise with an accessible, often entertaining approach. When not exploring the universe, he enjoys cricket, real tennis, cooking, and walking his lurcher, Mr. Max.
https://umn.zoom.us/s/93134319363
Host: Clem Pryke
