Astronomical Databases and Virtual Observatories …isya28/lecciones/rodolfo_1.pdfISYA 28th - 2005 4 Astronomical Databases & VOs Motivation Astronomy now: and also, the services of

Astronomical Databases & VOs

Astronomical Databases and Virtual Observatories

Surfing the Tsunami of Data

28th International School for Young Astronomers

Instituto Nacional de Astronomía, Óptica y Electrónica

Tonantzintla, México

Rodolfo H. Barbá

Universidad de La Serena Chile

ISYA 28th - 2005 2 Astronomical Databases & VOs

Motivation

We are living an age of very fast changes in the way to do Astronomy

Astronomy is one of the prime sciences of the human being

Astronomy goals through the centuries:

✔ Registering and recording of heaven events

✔ Developing of methodologies to keep and track such events

✔ SHARING the information and the knowledge

✔ During 20th century: international organization (IAU)

✔ Astronomy is one of the most international organised science. Nobody is “owner” of the heaven.


Motivation

Astronomy now:

✔ The technology (computers, communications, etc.) is changing the way to access to the information.

✔ Observational facilities based in astronomical satellites, “automated survey telescopes”, and 48 meters class telescopes are available everywhere.

✔ The next decade are planned amazing facilities.

✔ The information gathered by these facilities (and their derived products) is organised in huge databases...


Motivation

Astronomy now:

✔ and also, the services of such databases is being connected through computer grids

✔ “virtual observational astronomy” is coming now

✔ The observations are “there”, in fact, we “don't need” telescopes to do high-quality observational astronomy

✔ beyond the computer, software and internet connection, to use these observations and their products we need “only”....


Motivation

We need...

IMAGINATION

and

IDEAS




MotivationFor our countries with scarce resources:

✔Opportunity to access to highquality material.

✔We can do good “observational astrophysics” to relatively very low costs: free scientific software based on LINUX are available through Internet.

✔Training young astronomer in the use of these observations as a “experimental observatory” to apply for observing time in international observatories (ground and space).

✔Participating in the development of astronomical databases and grids.

✔and more...


Goals to reachThe goals to be reached in this 28th ISYA about the use of astronomical databases are:

✔To understand how the different elements of an observing proposal (as astrophysical subjects) are related.

✔To learn how the astronomical information is collected and organised on the Internet

✔To get quick looks of several astronomical information systems (data centres, bibliographic severs, image servers, etc.)

✔To learn which kind of information could be retrieved


Goals to reach

✔To learn about the use of image and catalogue visualisation software

✔To learn about some warnings in the use of catalogues and images

✔Examples how to retrieve scientific observations from data servers

✔Labs about how to access to these systems

✔ Ideas to do...

✔The next future: basic concepts about astrophysical virtual observatories and datamining tools.


ObservingProposal

Bib

. Ref

eren

ces Science aims

Antecedents

Theor. Backg.

TelescopeInstrumentDetector

Objects

Processing &Analysis

Methodology

ExperimentalDesign

References

Cat

alog

ues

Dupl. Check

Image Servers

Nomenclature

Coordinates

Others:Magnitudes

FluxesEphemeris

Proper motions

Beam

The observing proposal


Data Centres

They were the first institutions to systematically collect machine readable versions of astronomical catalogues.

All Data Centres offer services (increasing continuously), and they are participating in the creation of virtual observatories.

The access is free through Internet, using different technologies

Some services offered:✔ Images✔ Catalogues✔ Bibliographic resources✔ “Yellow pages”


Data Centres

There are two general purposes Data Centres:

Resolved object populations in the MW and nearby galaxies:

Extragalactic database

http://cdsweb.u-strasbg.fr

http://nedwww.ipac.caltech.edu

http://cdsweb.u-strasbg.fr/

http://nedwww.ipac.caltech.edu/




Data Centres

The increasing number of space missions have led to the creation of missionoriented data centres like:✔ Hubble Space Telescope: STScI http://www.stsci.edu and STECF

http://ecf.hq.eso.org✔ Infrared missions: IPAC http://www.ipac.caltech.edu✔ Highenergy: NASA HEASARC http://heasarc.gsfc.nasa.gov, Harvard

http://asc.harvard.edu/ and MPE http://wave.xray.mpe.mpg.de✔ ISO, IUE: VILSPA http://www.vilspa.esa.es✔ Multipurpose: CADC http://cadcwww.dao.nrc.ca✔ and many others

http://www.stsci.edu/

http://ecf.hq.eso.org/

http://www.ipac.caltech.edu/

http://heasarc.gsfc.nasa.gov/

http://asc.harvard.edu/

http://wave.xray.mpe.mpg.de/

http://www.vilspa.esa.es/

http://cadcwww.dao.nrc.ca/


Data Centres

Also several major goundbased observatories have established data centres to manage their past observations:

✔ European Southern Observatory: http://archive.eso.org ✔ NRAO Very Large Array, http://archive.nrao.edu✔ Royal Greenwich Observatory on La Palma http://archive.ast.cam.ac.uk✔ Gemini, CFHT: CADC http://cadcwww.dao.nrc.ca✔ Subaru (NAOJP): SMOKA Archive Facility http://smoka.nao.ac.jp✔ NOAO (Cerro Tololo, Kitt Peak): http://archive.noao.edu✔ Etc. etc.

http://archive.eso.org/

http://archive.nrao.edu/

http://archive.ast.cam.ac.uk/

http://cadcwww.dao.nrc.ca/

http://smoka.nao.ac.jp/

http://archive.noao.edu/


Data Centres

Many Sky Survey Projects are developed sophisticated Data Centres, and the list is growing incredibly fast:

✔ TwoMicron All Sky Survey (2MASS): ✔ Sloan Digital Sky Survey (SDSS):✔ Deep Near Infrared Survey of the Southern Sky (DENIS):✔ Massive Compact Halo Objects (MACHO) http://wwwmacho.anu.edu.au✔ OGLE, http://bulge.princeton.edu/~ogle/✔ ASAS, http://archive.princeton.edu/~asas/✔ Etc. etc., see http://www.cv.nrao.edu/fits/www/yp_survey.html

http://wwwmacho.anu.edu.au/


AstroWeb

AstroWeb is a collection of astronomical & space science resources on Internet with relevant significance. It is maintained by the AstroWeb Consortium (distributed in several institution worldwide):

✔ CDS, http://cdsweb.ustrasbg.fr/astroweb.html✔ MSSSO, http://msowww.anu.edu.au/~anton/astroweb/astronomy.html✔ NRAO, http://fits.cv.nrao.edu/www/astronomy.html✔ STScI, http://www.stsci.edu/netresources.html✔ VILSPA, http://www.vilspa.esa.es/astroweb/astronomy.html✔ IoA Cambridge, http://www.ast.cam.ac.uk/astroweb/yp_astronomy.html

AstroWeb looks like yellow pages and it is organised in specific items, actualised more or less periodicallyWARNING: it is uncompleted and some URL (links) could be out of date.


StarPagesIn CDS, André Heck (StarBriefs 2001, Dordretch: Kluwer Acad. Pub.) developed a series of astronomical services on Internet: the StarPages. They are part of Star*s Family resources on WWW), configuring the true astronomical pages.

http://vizier.ustrasbg.fr/starpages.html

✔ StarWorlds: astronomyrelated organisations, institutions, associations, companies, and so on: about 6500 entries from more than 100 countries

✔ StarHeads: personal WWW pages of professional astronomers and related scientists: 6000 entries

✔ StarBits: abbreviations, acronyms, contractions, symbols, and so on: about 200,000 entries

http://vizier.u-strasbg.fr/starpages.html


AstroWeb vs StarPages

AstroWeb or StarPages, which is better? Depends what you are finding.

✔ AstroWeb is free, and StarPages is expensive✔ AstroWeb is a compilation of about 3000 URLs, compared with 12000

offered by StarPages ✔ StarPages offers specific information which is authenticated, regurlarly

updated, homogenised, and systematically presents✔ AstroWeb is presented as a longlist for visual inspection✔ StarPages is very useful for searching engines (like Google)✔ AstrroWeb includes information of projects that not adjust in StarPages✔ StarWorlds contains data of sites and institutions without presence on

Internet


Object databasesObject databases gather both bibliographic references and meansurement quantities on galactic and extragalactic objects. There are many with increasing specialisation and complexity. Three are the prime ones:

✔ SIMBAD, http://simbad.ustrasbg.fr✔ NED, http://nedwww.ipac.caltech.edu✔ LEDA, LyonMeudon Extragalactic Database

SIMBAD is specialised in galactic objects, while NED and LEDA are specialised in extragalactic ones.

All three involve the concept of an astronomical object-name resolver, whichaccept and return identifiers; it also permits retrieval of all objects within specific

radius around coordinates.

The nomenclature of “astronomical sources of radiation outside the solar system” is regulated by the IAU Commission 5 Task Group on Designations

http://simbad.u-strasbg.fr/

http://nedwww.ipac.caltech.edu/


Astronomical cataloguesIt should be in mind that object databases generally do not include the fullinformation contained in CDS/NED catalogues.

We consider “astronomical catalogues” as static, final compilations of data for a given set of cosmic objects.

But (as we´ll see the next week) now are appearing dynamic catalogues

According to Jascheck (1989) they can be classified

1) Observational catalogues2) Compilation catalogues3) Critical compilation catalogues and bibliographical compilation catalogues

In category (1) now are included a new generation of catalogues derived from very specific surveys: 2MASS, HDF, MACHO, etc.


Astronomical cataloguesCDS maintain the most complete set of astronomical catalogues in the Astronomer's Bazaar, cdsweb.ustrasbg.fr/Cats.html

✔ 6060 catalogues available from CDS...✔ ... of which 5150 available on-line (as full ASCII or FITS tables)...✔ ... of which 4815 are also available through de VizieR browser

VizieR is a powerful tool to search and retrieve information from cataloguesA query in VizieR can be achieved: ✔ either in the traditional way of stepping through the following actions: 1.select one or a few catalogues to be queried 2.define your constraints (selection on columns) and the result layout 3. Get the results in a tabular form. Correlated data may be found. 4.Full Display of individual rows if wished;

This traditional way accepts lists of constraints or targets saved in a file. ✔ or as a global search around a position on the sky addressed to all or to a subset of catalogues existing in VizieR






Bibliographical servicesAstronomischer Jahresbericht was the first astronomical abstract service (1899-1968)

Astronomy & Astrophysics Abstracts - AAA (1969-2000)

Internet age: NASA's Astrophysics Data System http://adsabs.harvard.edu Abstract and Paper Service - ADS (1993)

➢ Mirrors world-wide ➢ Access using web browsers and shell commands➢ ADS provides sophisticated search facilities➢ Access to scanned and electronic papers➢ Links to references, object databases and other resources➢ Refcode or Bibcode: 19-characters reference code unique for each paper,

e.g. 2002ApJ...578..464S➢ myADS: E-mail notification service configurable by the user (through

cookies)

Internet age: e-Prrint Services ArXiv http://arxiv.org including astro-ph, the most important preprint server for Astrophysics (since 4/1992), in Cornell Univ.

➢ linked to ADS and fully referenced➢ Service integrated to myADS

http://www.ari.uni-heidelberg.de/publikationen/ajb/

http://www.ari.uni-heidelberg.de/publikationen/aaa/

http://adsabs.harvard.edu/

http://arxiv.org/









Miscellaneous servicesNED hosts the LEVEL5 project. This is an ongoing and developing experimental service sponsored by NASA and the Carnegie Institution ofWashington, in conjunction with NED

The purpose of LEVEL5 is to bring together in a single gateway WEB site (where copyrights allow) "original" documents and reviews and/or electronic links to articles of current and lasting interest to cosmologists, particle physicists and extragalactic astronomers.





ISYA 28th - 2005 Astronomical Databases & VOs

AcknowledgementsI am grateful to the ISYA organizers for the opportunity to give this lectures and for their financial support.

The material presented in this talk is based on information collected from CDS, ADS, NED Data Centres and The New York Times.

This talk was prepared using Open Office 2.0 running in a LINUX SuSe 9.3 box.

Documents

Astronomical Databases and Virtual Observatories …isya28/lecciones/rodolfo_1.pdfISYA 28th - 2005 4 Astronomical Databases & VOs Motivation Astronomy now: and also, the services of