''The Astronomer's Telegram'' (''ATel'') is an internet-based short-notice publication service for quickly disseminating information on new astronomical observations. Examples include

gamma-ray bursts In gamma-ray astronomy, gamma-ray bursts (GRBs) are immensely energetic explosions that have been observed in distant galaxies. They are the most energetic and luminous electromagnetic events since the Big Bang. Bursts can last from ten millis ...

gravitational microlensing Gravitational microlensing is an astronomical phenomenon due to the gravitational lens effect. It can be used to detect objects that range from the mass of a planet to the mass of a star, regardless of the light they emit. Typically, astronomers ...

supernovae A supernova is a powerful and luminous explosion of a star. It has the plural form supernovae or supernovas, and is abbreviated SN or SNe. This transient astronomical event occurs during the last evolutionary stages of a massive star or when ...

novae A nova (plural novae or novas) is a transient astronomical event that causes the sudden appearance of a bright, apparently "new" star (hence the name "nova", which is Latin for "new") that slowly fades over weeks or months. Causes of the dramati ...

, or X-ray transients, but there are no restrictions on content matter. Telegrams as available instantly on the service's website and distributed to subscribers via email digest within 24 hours. ''The Astronomer's Telegram'' was launched on 17 December 1997 by Robert E. Rutledge with the goal of rapidly (<1 s) sharing information of interest to astronomers. Telegrams are sent out daily by email, but especially time sensitive events can be transmitted instantly. Since 2013, information is also broadcast over Twitter and Facebook. To publish, astronomers request credentials. Credentials are issued to professional astronomers and graduate students, after verification by personal contact. Once credentials have been supplied and telegrams authorized, astronomers can publish telegrams directly, with no further editing. As of August 2019, over 13000 telegrams have been published.

History

While working at Max Planck Institute for Extraterrestrische Physik in Garching, Bob Rutledge began the site after his experience in using the web in 1995-6 as an aid in the discovery and characterization (by multiple scientists working informally and collaboratively) of the

Bursting Pulsar The Bursting Pulsar (GRO J1744-28) is a low-mass x-ray binary with a period of 11.8 days. It was discovered in December 1995 by the Burst and Transient Source Experiment on the Compton Gamma-Ray Observatory, the second of the NASA Great ...

, GRO J1744-28. Operations began in earnest at the department of astronomy of

UC Berkeley The University of California, Berkeley (UC Berkeley, Berkeley, Cal, or California) is a public land-grant research university in Berkeley, California. Established in 1868 as the University of California, it is the state's first land-grant uni ...

where Rutledge was a visiting post-doctoral scholar with Prof.

Lars Bildsten Lars Bildsten (born 1964) is an American astrophysicist, best known for his work on the physics of white dwarfs and their explosions as Type Ia supernovae. He is the sixth director of the Kavli Institute for Theoretical Physics at the Universit ...

. The service received international attention following a March 20, 2018 when

Peter Dunsby Peter Dunsby (born 12 November 1966) is a full professor of gravitation and cosmology at the Department of Mathematics and Applied Mathematics at the University of Cape Town, South Africa. He was the co-director of the Astrophysics, Cosmology a ...

submitted a report of a "very bright optical transient near the Trifid and Lagoon Nebulae". Forty minutes later he posted again apologizing, saying that the object in question was "identified as Mars". ''The Astronomer's Telegram'' editors presented Dunsby with a

tongue-in-cheek The idiom tongue-in-cheek refers to a humorous or sarcastic statement expressed in a serious manner. History The phrase originally expressed contempt, but by 1842 had acquired its modern meaning. Early users of the phrase include Sir Walter Scot ...

award as discoverer of Mars. Dunsby later described the incident to ''Newsweek'' as "an honest mistake arising from simply not checking what else was in my camera frame, during an automated astrophotography session and of very little consequence in the scheme of things. The world needs to smile more, so that’s something good that has come out of this episode.”

Current operations

''The Astronomer's Telegram'' currently has an editor in chief, an editor and a co-editor. The ''ATel'' service is free, both for publishers and readers of the telegrams. ''The Astronomer's Telegram''s editors remind users to report discoveries of supernovae or comets to the

Central Bureau for Astronomical Telegrams The Central Bureau for Astronomical Telegrams (CBAT) is the official international clearing house for information relating to transient astronomical events. The CBAT collects and distributes information on comets, natural satellites, novae, super ...

as well.

References

{{Reflist, 30em

External links

The Astronomer's Telegram
official site

Telegram Telegraphy is the long-distance transmission of messages where the sender uses symbolic codes, known to the recipient, rather than a physical exchange of an object bearing the message. Thus flag semaphore is a method of telegraphy, whereas ...

History

Current operations

See also

References

External links