The Transient Sky Alliance (TSA) is a Slack community created with the aim of fostering collaborations between scientists across countries and institutions. This includes, but is not limited to supernovae, tidal disruption events, fast radio bursts, kilonovae, gravitational waves, large surveys and methods, and others. Anyone is welcome to join this community, but please review the code of conduct before requesting to join.
This is a Slack space hosted by the Space Telescope Science Institute, which allows us to retain the information posted here indefinitely. Unfortunately, this also means that any users external to STScI will have to join as guests, which means you will have to request to be added to channels. The current list of channels is shown below, if you wish to suggest the creation of a new channel or join a channel, request this in the #channel-requests channel, or message one of the administrators directly. If you wish to create a new public channel, you can ask on #channel-requests. If you would like to have control over which channels you have, we recommend using your existing STScI account (The one you might use to submit tickets or manage HST observations) or make one here.
Channels
- general
- random
- supernovae
- tdes
- frbs
- slsne
- kilonovae
- gravitational-waves
- observations
- papers
- conferences
- channel-requests
- jobs
- questions
Code of Conduct
We aim for this Slack to be an open space that promotes a collaborative, welcoming, environment for anyone. We write this code of conduct based on the one Supernova Research Collaboration, which in turn is based on the LSST DESC’s Professional Conduct Policies. By joining this space to agree to abide by this code of conduct.
By joining, we attest that the type of community this space becomes will be created by our collective actions, as such,
- We pledge to treat all people with respect and provide a harassment- and bullying-free environment, regardless of sex, sexual orientation and/or gender identity, age, disability, physical appearance, lactation or pregnancy, body size, race, nationality, ethnicity, political affiliation, and religion. In particular, sexual language and imagery, sexist, racist, or otherwise exclusionary jokes are not appropriate.
- Verbal, non-verbal or physical harassment of any kind will not be tolerated. Behaviors and language acceptable to one person may not be to another. Members must make every effort to ensure that words and actions communicate respect for others. Sexual harassment is not tolerated in our community, including but not limited to inappropriate verbal and physical conduct, unwelcome sexual advances, and requests for sexual favors.
- We pledge to respect the work (code, papers, or ideas) of others by recognizing acknowledgment/citation requests of original authors. As authors, we pledge to be explicit about how we want our own work to be cited or acknowledged.
- We pledge to perform research in a well-documented and ethically sound manner. Falsification of data or results, plagiarism, taking credit for others’ work or any other scientific misconduct will not be tolerated.
- We pledge to welcome those interested in joining the community, and realize that including people with a variety of opinions and backgrounds will only serve to enrich our community. In particular, discussions relating to pros/cons of various technologies, programming languages, career paths, and so on are welcome, but these should be done with respect, taking proactive measure to ensure that all participants are heard and feel confident that they can freely express their opinions.
- We pledge to welcome questions and answer them respectfully, paying particular attention to those new to the community. We pledge to provide respectful criticisms and feedback where appropriate.
- We pledge to be conscientious of the perceptions of the wider community and to respond to criticism respectfully. We will strive to model behaviors that encourage productive debate and disagreement, both within our community and where we are criticized. We will treat those outside our community with the same respect as people within our community.
- We pledge to help the entire community follow this code of conduct, and to not remain silent when we see violations of the code of conduct. We will take action when members of our community violate this code such as contacting the Community Committee (all relevant emails or direct messages sent to any member of this group will be treated with the strictest confidence) or talking privately with the person.
This code of conduct applies to all community situations online and offline, in group events or one-to-one interactions.
Consequences of Misconduct
If you notice any misconduct it can be reported to the administrators. In the case of a private report, the Committee will treat the reporting with the strictest of confidence.
In the case of a formal complaint, the administrators will designate two members to hear both sides of the complaint, and if appropriate, consult witnesses. The administrators are responsible for ensuring the timely resolution of any formal complaints. If the complaint is upheld, the administrators will have a range of actions at their disposal to remedy the situation, up to and including removal from the TSA space. In addition, the administrators reserve the right to remove a member from the TSA without formal investigation based on sanction or censure by the member’s department, institution, or professional society for activity that constitutes a violation of this Code of Conduct or places members at risk. The administrators will communicate the outcome of any investigation only to the complainant(s), the respondent(s) and those who they deem need to know.
Retaliation toward a member who pursues any of these options, or toward anyone assisting either in the ombuds process or in the investigation of a formal complaint, is a violation of this Code.
Use Cases
Here we provide a non-exhaustive list of ideas of how the TSA space can be used
- Multi-institution collaborations: If you want to have informal or formal discussions among members of different institutions that are not currently on a joint Slack space.
- Advertisements and announcements: Publicize job postings, conferences, workshops, or scientific papers.
- Discussions during conferences: Create a channel for a single conference where people can coordinate during the duration of the conference. This can be archived after the conference is over.
- Coordinating Observations: Request, coordinate, or share observations for a specific transient or object.
Administrators / How to join
If you would like to join the Slack space, please email one of our administrators to add you.
Sebastian Gomez 