Posted by Jeremy at 19:05 on 2011 Mar 04
Of course the images paid for (at least partially) the BAA should be made available for all members to see and use (with appropriate credit). I see no problem with other people making use of the images for their own study/research. Science is all about making the original data for others to use the main challenge is often in the interpretation of the basic data (in this case images).Andrea asks:>>in the hypothetical case of (me) releasing all the raw images what would be preventing anyone else to do the data analysis and publish the results him/herself? <<Absolutely nothing prevents this. And thats a good thing: it should be encouraged. Maybe the final results and conclusions will be different from yours. In such a case, it may lead to further understanding. Thats what science is about. If one pays for the results out of ones own pocket, then one can decide when to release the images/data etc. But if BAA member services have paid, then they should be freely available to all members.This is already common in the field of VS research too. Every day dozens of observers upload their data (including data reduced from CCD images) to the AAVSO web site (and other groups like BAA VSS and Center for Backyard Astrophysics), making them freely available for others to use immediately.Go well!Jeremy