The Multimission Archive at STScI Newsletter

May 30, 2000Space Telescope Science InstituteVolume 8

The Multimission Archive at STScI (MAST) Newsletter disseminates information to users of the HST, FUSE, IUE, Copernicus, EUVE, HUT, UIT, WUPPE, IMAPS, BEFS and VLA-FIRST data archives supported by MAST. Inquiries should be sent to archive@stsci.edu.

Index of Contents:

Want a Java StarView demo?
Calibrated WFPC2 and STIS data
WEB Tape Retrievals
EUVE Previews
The MAST ``Quick Search'' Routine
Literature Links
The MAST Prepared Datasets
IUE Scripts and Newsletter Articles Online
VLA FIRST Data Now Available Through FTP

Want a Java StarView demo? Email archive@stsci.edu today!

StarView v6.0 is a Java application to execute archive searches and data retrievals. StarView v6.0 will replace StarView 5.4a, the current xwindows interface. StarView v6.0 will provide all of the essential capabilities of the xwindows version of StarView, and it will be available on any platform that supports Java, including Solaris and Windows. Version 6.0 will also have enhanced capabilities in customizable search forms and a more controlled screen environment. Because of its Java origins, the StarView ``look and feel'' is a little different from the current StarView, but the components should be recognizable to our archive users. We plan a public downloadable version to be released in June, 2000. We are looking for volunteers to use the prototype and to try the public release. If you are interested, please contact us at archive@stsci.edu.

Calibrated WFPC2 and STIS data

On May 15th the Archive stopped ingesting calibrated data for WFPC2 and plans to stop ingesting STIS calibrated data in June. All calibrated data for WFPC2 that is requested from DADS will now be made on demand with the On-The-Fly Calibration System. We will continue to archive the raw data files so users can either retrieve the raw data alone or recalibrate the data with the OTFC system and receive raw and calibrated files. We are also preparing to transfer existing data to new magneto-optical jukeboxes. We will not transfer any of the existing calibrated data from either of these instruments. All data requests to the HST Archive for WFPC2 (and later STIS) _calibrated_ data will be processed through the OTFC system. For STIS, calibrated data extensions include FLT, CRJ, SFL, X1D, X2D, SX1 and SX2. For WFPC2, the extensions are C* (COF, C1F, C2F and C3T).

Web Tape Retrievals

As of Cycle 9, STScI will no longer be automatically generating tapes for HST PIs. PIs should instead request their data through the Web or through StarView. In support of this, retrieval submission through the Web has a new feature feature: If you are retrieving your data on Exabyte or DAT tape, you will be asked to verify your mailing address. You will be able to make changes to your mailing address at the time the tape is requested.

Note that this will change the mailing address associated with your archive user account. All tapes you request will use this as their mailing address.

EUVE Previews

The Extreme Ultraviolet Explorer (EUVE) MAST search script (available at http://archive.stsci.edu/euve), which allows users to search the EUVE catalog of observations and download EUVE data from HEASARC, now includes preview images. EUVE 1-D quick-look spectra for most EUVE sources were extracted from the permanent archive 2-D images using the standard EUVE IRAF routines, and written to gif files using IDL plotting routines. Plots include spectra from each spectrometer: the short wavelength spectrometer (SW; 70-190 Angstroms), the medium wavelength spectrometer (MW; 140-380 Angstroms), and the long wavelength spectrometer (LW; 280-760 Angstroms). If more than one spectrometer acquired data, a combined 70-760 Angstrom spectrum is available. Preview spectra are accessible from the result page of the search script, as currently done for IUE and other missions. In addition to the images, users can also download ASCII files of wavelengths and calibrated fluxes, and/or display listings of FITS keywords.

The MAST ``Quick Search'' Routine

The MAST ``quick search'' routine performs a search of the MAST archive for a given object based on its name or coordinates. The routine has been recently expanded to search all MAST missions, including some the latest additions: the Berkeley Extreme and Far-UV Spectrometer (BEFS), the Interstellar Medium Absorption Profile Spectrograph (IMAPS), and the Far Ultraviolet Spectroscopic Explorer (FUSE). The result page now includes links to preview spectra and ASCII files of wavelengths and fluxes for the International Ultraviolet Explorer (IUE), the Hopkins Ultraviolet Telescope (HUT), the Wisconsin Ultraviolet Photo-Polarimeter Experiment (WUPPE), BEFS, and EUVE. The ``quick search'' page is available at http://archive.stsci.edu/quick_search.html. To use, just enter a SIMBAD-friendly target name or the target coordinates as ra,dec. The search results page will show up to 10 entries for each mission having observations of the requested target, with a link to each mission search script for displaying additional entries.

Literature Links

MAST has begun a project to catalog the papers for each MAST mission and extract the information required to correlate the data referenced in them by observing program, astronomical object, and observations. MAST is sharing this information with the Astrophysics Data System (ADS). Astronomers using the ADS to perform literature searches will be able to see the identified observations and link back to the MAST preview pages for more information, with the possibility of downloading the relevant data.

This long term project got a quick start by utilizing the data already gathered by the IUE and WUPPE projects. The links for these data as well as those for the HUT project have been implemented. Identification of UIT papers and associated datasets is underway and that information will be implemented very soon. The IUE literature links will be completed over the next few months, and then work will proceed for the remaining missions.

Identification of HST papers and associated HST proposal IDs is currently underway and will be implemented gradually as completed. This will allow archival researchers to have easy access to HST-based papers directly from the archive interface. It will also allow STScI to assess the productivity and science impact of the various projects.

The MAST Prepared Datasets

MAST provides access to a set of highly processed datasets from missions supported by MAST at http://archive.stsci.edu/prep_ds.html. These datasets have undergone special processing by their authors and are likely to have interest for several purposes, for example, spectral atlases obtained from GHRS and IUE data. In all cases these data are provided both as ASCII tables and as figures. The latest additions include: (1) a nearly continuous time series of spectra in the wavelength region including the SiIV 1394, 1403 Angstrom doublet for the B0.5e star gamma Cas over nearly 22 hours and (2) an IUE atlas of stellar spectra by Wu, Mo, and Crenshaw. The gamma Cas data were obtained through the GHRS Large Science Aperture and with the G160M grating and read down in rapid mode. Thus, the spectra may be co-binned in wavelength in order to construct a light curve (the known "Geomagnetic Induced Motion Problem" (aka GIMP) has been corrected fo r). The data are a unique time series on a hot star for the GHRS. The Wu et al. atlas comprises low dispersion spectra of 476 "normal" stars and 38 subdwarf and white dwarf stars reduced through NEWSIPS processing. We now have quite a complement of digitized UV atlases of bright stars which can be used for a variety of purposes. We invite you to take a look!

IUE Scripts and Newsletter Articles Online

We have recently placed scanned copies of the original IUE observing scripts online. Researchers find them useful because they record how the observer specified the observation and how it was executed by the Telescope Operator. This information is especially helpful when analyzing spectra of extended objects, solar system objects, or complicated observations. To view a particular script, go to http://archive.stsci.edu/iue/preview/select.html and enter the camera and image number (e.g. SWP05003). This will bring up a web page showing thumbnail images of scripts taken at about the same time. Click on the correct thumbnail to view the entire script in PDF format. The backs of scripts are included if they contain annotations about the observations. Please contact us for help in interpreting some the annotations, if needed, at archive@stsci.edu .

The entire series of NASA IUE Newsletters has been scanned and placed online. These 57 volumes, spanning 1978 to 1997, provided the primary source for user information, calibration and processing reports, and other information during the lifetime of IUE. We plan to provide a linked index to the most relevant articles within the next few weeks. In addition, you can browse through the table of contents of each volume, locate an article, and view it in PDF format from http://archive.stsci.edu/iue/newsletters.html.

VLA FIRST Data Now Available Through FTP

Data from the VLA FIRST (Faint Images of the Radio Sky at Twenty centimeters) are now available from MAST through anonymous FTP. Previously an archive account was required to retrieve it; an account is no longer necessary.

The MAST anonymous FTP server is archive.stsci.edu. The VLA FIRST data is available in the directory /pub/vla_first/data. The files are grouped into directories named for the right ascensions of the plate centers. You can browse the FTP area or point to specific fields using an FTP URL. For example, the full URL to the field name 10510+3045 will be

ftp://archive.stsci.edu/pub/vla_first/data/10510/f10510+30456_sum.fits.gz

Note that the files are gzip-compressed. The VLA FIRST data is served from a CDROM jukebox, so there may be a short (three second) delay if a CD has to be mounted. VLA FIRST is a systematic survey of the North and South Galactic caps chosen to coincide with the Sloan Digital Sky Survey. For more information, see the VLA FIRST Home page at

http://sundog.stsci.edu/

To Subscribe or Unsubscribe to the Newsletter

If you would like remove yourself from the mailing list send mail to archive_news-request@stsci.edu and put the single word unsubscribe in the BODY of the message. Information on the subject line will be ignored.

If someone would like to subscribe to the mailing list they should send mail to archive_news-request@stsci.edu and put the single word subscribe in the BODY of the message. Information on the subject line will be ignored. The subscriber will be asked to confirm the subscription.