Digital Infrastructure in Astrophysics

Abstract: Astronomy, as a field, has long encouraged the development of free, open digital infrastructure (e.g., National Research Council 2010, 2011). Examples range from simple scripts that enable individual scientific research, through software instruments for entire communities, to data reduction pipelines for telescope operations at national facilities. As with the digital infrastructure of our larger society today (e.g., Eghbal 2016), nearly all astronomical research relies on free, open source software (FOSS) written and maintained by a small number of developers. And like the physical infrastructure of roads or bridges, digital infrastructure needs regular upkeep and maintenance (e.g., Eghbal 2016). In astronomy, financial support for maintaining existing digital infrastructure is generally much harder to secure than funding for developing new digital infrastructures that promise new science. Sustaining astronomy's digital infrastructure is a new topic for many, the sustainability challenges are not always widely known...