Paper short abstract:

This paper traces how members of an astronomical research collaboration achieved agreement on a digital astronomical dataset as they navigated the changing context of other projects and the dangers of being scooped by competing teams.

Paper long abstract:

My contribution to the panel would consider how members of a collaboration of research astronomers have worked together in making a digital astronomical dataset using observations from diverse telescopes around the globe and in space. It traces how members achieved agreement on the dataset as they negotiated the temporalities of production of its constituent data and its value, navigating the changing context of other projects and the dangers of being scooped by competing teams.

Combining ethnography with an ethnomethodological analysis, the paper draws on fieldwork at an astronomical research institute, at two observatories, and at group and collaboration meetings, where I have documented a series of instructional and collaborative interactions. These include teacher-student and peer interactions at screen-work, group meetings and teleconferences, which I have documented with audio and video recordings.