Preface

The fifth annual conference on Astronomical Data Analysis Software and Systems, ADASS V, was held in Tucson, Arizona, on 22--25 October 1995 and was hosted by the National Optical Astronomy Observatories. The Proceedings for that Conference are presented in this volume. The ADASS Conference series continues to be the world's primary meeting on astronomical software issues attracting an international participation of scientists and programmers. There were 282 registered participants at ADASS V, with 76 people from 16 countries outside the United States.

The key topics for ADASS V were Archives for Ground-Based Data; Electronic Information Systems and Services; Real Time, Near-Real Time Systems; Science Software Applications; and Software Development Methods. The program for ADASS V included 12 invited speakers with 31 contributed oral talks and 99 poster papers. 7 BOF's (Birds of a Feather) sessions on special topics were also included as part of the Conference. These topics included Electronic Publishing, EPICS, FITS, IDL User's Group, IRAF User's Meeting, Linux User's Meeting, and Software System Futures. The 131 papers presented in this book are divided into sections based on the key topics for the Conference.

Several other events were connected with the Conference. Many early arrivals enjoyed an exciting (perhaps more than they bargained for!) tour to Kitt Peak Mountain on Sunday, while others chose to participate in a full day Object-Oriented Programming workshop presented by Allen Farris from the Space Telescope Science Institute. A Mexican Buffet kicked off the Conference activities at a Sunday evening reception. The Conference banquet was held in an old West atmosphere with entertainment by a local cowboy singing group on Tuesday evening. Many Conference participants stayed over an extra day to attend the IRAF Developer's Workshop on Thursday. The Tucson Chamber of Commerce was true to its promise of clear skies and delightful weather for the duration of the Conference.

The conference was sponsored by the Infrared Processing and Analysis Center, the International Gemini 8-Meter Telescopes Project, the National Aeronautics and Space Administration, the National Optical Astronomy Observatories, the National Radio Astronomy Observatory, the National Research Council of Canada, the Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory, the Space Telescope Science Institute, the University of Arizona Steward Observatory, and the Vatican Observatory. The corporate sponsors included Co Comp, Inc., Network Computing Devices, Inc., Sun Microsystems, Inc., and Research Systems, Inc. The Conference would like to thank all the sponsors of ADASS V for their generous support.

The conference Program Organizing Committee included Rudi Albrecht (ST-ECF/ESO), Roger Brissenden (SAO), Tim Cornwell (NRAO), Dennis Crabtree (DAO/CADC), Bob Hanisch---Chair (STScI), Gareth Hunt (NRAO), George Jacoby (NOAO), Barry Madore (IPAC), Dick Shaw (STScI), Karen Strom (U. Mass.), and Doug Tody (NOAO). The LOC would especially like to acknowledge the continuing efforts by Bob Hanisch whose dedication and attention to detail has played a major role in the success of the ADASS series.

The Local Organizing Committee was chaired by Jeannette Barnes. Other members of the LOC included David Bell, Lindsey Davis, Mike Fitzpatrick, Randy Good, Steve Grandi, George Jacoby, Dyer Lytle, Mike Peralta, Rob Seaman, Nigel Sharp, and Doug Tody. The LOC chair would especially like to thank Randy Good, Steve Grandi, and Nigel Sharp for their extra efforts throughout all stages of the Conference to help make it a success. And she would like to express a sincere thank you to the other people at NOAO (that are too numerous to mention here) who, when called upon to help with a variety of details in preparation for the Conference, did so with their usual thoroughness and enthusiasm!

ADASS VI will be held in Charlottesville, Virginia, 22-25 September 1996, and will be hosted by the National Radio Astronomy Observatory. Send e-mail to adass96@nrao.edu for further information or see the Web page at the URL: http://www.cv.nrao.edu/adass/.

George H. Jacoby
National Optical Astronomy Observatories

Jeannette Barnes
National Optical Astronomy Observatories

May 1996

Cover illustration: An example display from the Inventor Aipsview 3D display tool, provided by R. M. Crutcher. The data sets are two RA-Dec-Velocity data cubes obtained with the Berkeley-Illinois-Maryland Array by A. Dayal and J. Bieging (ApJ, 439, 996, 1995) of the HCN and CN molecular lines at 3 mm wavelength from IRC + 10216. The CN data are shown as an isosurface (the surface of constant intensity throughout the 3D data cube), while a single velocity plane of the HCN data cube is shown as a pseudocolor slice. Inventor Aipsview may be used to change interactively the isosurface value, run a movie through the velocity slice planes, rotate the cube, and produce other displays such as contours and volume rendering simultaneously. (See the paper by Richard M. Crutcher et al., page 47, for details.)