Experimental challenges prepare astronomers for dark-energy data
DOI: 10.1063/PT.5.027453
Nature : In anticipation of the terabytes of data from future night-sky surveys designed to study dark energy, astronomers are participating in challenges to analyze fake data. Such campaigns as the Strong Lens Time Delay Challenge , set to kick off on 1 December, are designed to test the analysis methods that will be used to study the distorting effects of strong and weak gravitational lensing on images of distant galaxies. Fake-data challenges have been in use for the past decade; for example, operators of the Laser Interferometer Gravitational-Wave Observatory have from time to time inserted fake signals to see whether scientists can distinguish them from the real ones.
