Implementation of The Unified Astronomy Thesaurus

Abstract

The Unified Astronomy Thesaurus (UAT) has been formally recognized and supported by the American Astronomical Society (AAS). Starting in June of 2019, AAS journals such as the Astrophysical Journal and the Astronomical Journal have required UAT concepts for all new article submissions. The Hubble Space Telescope Call for Proposals Cycle 28 and the James Webb Space Telescope Call for Proposals Cycle 1 have both adopted the UAT as the source for descriptive keywords. We look back at usage of the UAT during its first two years of implementation and look forward to continuing to meet the needs of the astronomical community. The Unified Astronomy Thesaurus thrives on user input for growth, and the UAT Curator has seen an increase in feedback and submissions since being implemented into various systems. In order to better support continuous community feedback, the UAT Curator has defined a development roadmap to guide the yearly release cycle. UAT enhancements from the past two years will also be shared with the community. These include new concept branches, concept definitions derived from the Etymological Dictionary of Astronomy and Astrophysics, and enhanced search capabilities.