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Article <56levm$5ok@eagle1.cc.GaSoU.edu>
From: ZELLNER@GSVMS2.CC.GASOU.EDU (BENJAMIN_H. ZELLNER)
Subject: Re: Hale Bopp photos
Date: 16 Nov 1996 22:24:54 GMT
In <minnie-1311962031050001@10.0.2.15>
minnie@mail.pe.net writes:
> > Data taken by HST is indeed held private for 1 year.
This 'embargo' gives
> > the astronomer that made the proposal a chance to
reduce and analyze the data.
> > Time (and money!) on HST is very competitive, so it is
in the community's
> > best interest to put the data on hold for a year.
Getting a proposal passed
> > to observe on HST is an arduous and time-consuming
task. If they simply
> > released the data immediately no one would ever propose
anything!
> >
> Maybe I'm confused here... you're saying that knowledge is
postponed in
> favor of competition?
No, the competition comes first - in the proposal process. Then the data are reserved to the successful proposer, in favor of knowledge. The one-year limitation can be a powerful incentive to get busy with the analysis and interpretation of your data, before they become public domain.