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The Multimission Archive at STScI Newsletter
| August 2, 1999 | Space Telescope Science Institute | Volume 6 |
| Index of Contents: | |
|---|---|
| PDF "Paper Products" on the Web | Damian Christian and Paolo Padovani |
| Archive Manual | Paolo Padovani |
| On-The-Fly Calibration | Megan Donahue |
| HST Duplication Checking on the World Wide Web | Tim Kimball and Paolo Padovani |
| MAST ROSAT Interface | Paolo Padovani and Tim Kimball |
| MAST to Archive FUSE Data | Paolo Padovani |
| Access to Highly Processed Data Sets | Myron Smith |
| MAST Archive of ORFEUS IMAPS 1 Raw Data | Karen Levay and Randy Thompson |
| Ingest of UV Archives at MAST | Karen Levay |
| Direct Retrievals for ASTRO Datasets | Paolo Padovani and Tim Kimball |
| IUEDAC Software Update | Randy Thompson |
| FITS Standard Document Online | Karen Levay |
A new World Wide Web (WWW) interface allows users to search for, and
display, the HST observation summaries now offered only in Portable
Document Format (i.e., PDF). These documents, formerly available only
in hardcopy form and referred to as the HST "paper products", provide a
quick first look at the data, drawing on information in the data
quality (PDQ) file. The WWW interface is available at
http://archive.stsci.edu/hst/pdf_home.html. The page can be used to
select various search criteria to locate particular PDF files. The PDF
documents are password protected (unless the proposal is a calibration
program) and users will need their archive name and password to access
documents. Users will need to have been authorized to access their
data (including paper products) before they attempt to use this
interface. PIs should request authorization by sending mail to
archive@stsci.edu with their proposal number. The Paper Product
interface is not available to general archive users but only to PIs of
HST programs. Note that as of August 1 general production of paper
products in hardcopy form has been terminated. These can still be
provided if needed in very special cases.
- Damian Christian and Paolo Padovani
A new, revised version of the Archive Manual (version 7.0) is
available. It provides information a user needs to know to access the
STScI archive via its two user interfaces: StarView and the WWW
interface. A completely new chapter describes the WWW interface and
briefly the various MAST datasets. The description of the StarView
screens is now up-to-date and On-The-Fly Calibration (OTFC: see below)
screens are also discussed. The manual is available on the WWW at
http://archive.stsci.edu/hst/manual/. A choice of on-line
(HTML), PDF, or Postscript is offered. The PDF version includes active
hyper-links and should be preferred over the on-line version, as some
chapters might take some time to load.
- Paolo Padovani
OTFC requests can be made through a new version of the
- Megan Donahue
- Tim Kimball and Paolo Padovani
Many astronomers still think in terms of observing bands and consider
themselves, for example, radio, optical, infrared, or X-ray
astronomers. This "narrow-band" view may soon change given the many
all-sky surveys at various wavelengths already available and the many
more in progress. Multiwavelength astronomy allows researchers to take
a global approach to astronomical problems, not to mention the huge
increase in the selection efficiency of samples for specific classes.
As a first step towards a retrieval interface that crosses the
boundaries between two data centers, MAST is proud to announce its new
ROSAT interface. Available at
http://archive.stsci.edu/rosat/, this
interface provides access to the ROSAT Master observations log
(ROSMASTER) at the High Energy Astrophysics Science Archive Research
Center (HEASARC) as a service to our optical/UV community. The MAST
ROSAT interface is in fact very similar to the other MAST interfaces,
so MAST users should find it easier to access the ROSAT archive through
this channel. ROSAT, the ROentgen SATellite, was an X-ray observatory
developed through a cooperative program between Germany, the United
States, and the United Kingdom. The satellite was designed and operated
by Germany, and was launched by the United States on June 1, 1990. It
was turned off on February 12, 1999. ROSAT data cover the 0.1 - 2.4 keV
range (or 5 - 124 Angstrom). The ROSAT Master observations log can be
searched on a variety of parameters, ranging from position and object
name to exposure time and PI name. Selected data can then be retrieved.
Various data products are available, e.g., abstracts, FITS files (which
allow one to extract images, light curves, and spectra), calibration
files, and images in GIF format in different bands. The page provides
links to various HEASARC WWW pages which give information about the
ROSAT mission, data analysis documentation and software, and the ROSAT
archive.
- Paolo Padovani and Tim Kimball
We are happy to announce a new addition to the missions archived at
MAST: the Far Ultraviolet Spectroscopic Explorer (FUSE). FUSE, a
NASA-supported mission, was successfully launched on June 24 1999 to
explore the Universe using the technique of high-resolution
spectroscopy in the far-ultraviolet spectral region. The Johns Hopkins
University has the lead role in developing and operating the mission,
in collaboration with the University of Colorado at Boulder, the
University of California at Berkeley, the Canadian Space Agency (CSA),
and the French Space Agency (CNES). FUSE is part of NASA's Origins
Program under the auspices of NASA's Office of Space Science. FUSE will
cover the 905 - 1195 Angstrom spectral region and obtain pointed
observations of hot and cool stars, solar system objects, active
galactic nuclei, supernova remnants, and planetary nebulae. MAST will
be the FUSE archive site, providing access to both proprietary and
public FUSE data. The MAST FUSE interface can be accessed at
http://archive.stsci.edu/fuse/.
- Paolo Padovani
MAST has begun to assemble a set of highly processed data sets from
missions supported by MAST. To date, these data sets consist of
spectral atlases, grayscales of time series spectra, and a composite
spectrum of a QSO. In some cases these data were published as
figures, a form for which it is impossible to reconstruct the numbers.
In other cases, our data sets include data referred to by their
original observers
and not published. Our pages include the tabular data (e.g. fluxes,
wavelengths) in addition to the plots, so it is possible to work with
them conveniently. We have already discovered just a few of many ways
to use these data for scientific purposes other than those envisaged
by the authors. We invite you to take a look at the top level page
pointing to these data at
http://archive.stsci.edu/prep_ds.html) and
to give us feed back (to 'archive@stsci.edu')
or to suggest additional data sets.
- Myron Smith
- Karen Levay and
Randy Thompson
- Karen Levay
and Paolo Padovani
- Paolo Padovani
and Tim Kimball
The IUE IDL Data Analysis software libraries have been updated
and can now be downloaded from
http://archive.stsci.edu/iue/iuedac.html.
Most of the changes involved the FITS-handling routines and are
described at
http://archive.stsci.edu/iue/rdafnews.html. The changes
also include several Y2K-related modifications made last fall.
The software was installed on the unix cluster at STScI
earlier this month.
Besides the previously supported platforms, a WindowsNT-compatible
version is now supported and available for download from the above URL.
Note that one still must purchase IDL in order to use any of the
IUEDAC routines.
Users experiencing any errors are requested to send e-mail to
archive@stsci.edu.
The recently approved FITS Standard document (V100-2.0) is now
available online at
http://archive.stsci.edu/fits/fits_standard.
This document, dated 29 March 1999, is available in Postscript,
compressed (gzip) Postscript, and PDF formats at
http://fits.gsfc.nasa.gov/.
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PDF "Paper Products" on the Web
Archive Manual
On-The-Fly Calibration
HST Duplication Checking on the World Wide Web
MAST ROSAT Interface
MAST to Archive FUSE Data
Access to Highly Processed Data Sets
MAST Archive of
Interstellar Medium Absorption Profile Spectrograph
(IMAPS) 1 Raw Data
Ingest of UV Archives at MAST
Direct Retrievals for ASTRO Datasets
IUEDAC Software Update
FITS Standard Available Online
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