October 1995 Volume 3, No. 9
IUE DATA ANALYSIS CENTER NEWSLETTER
This is an electronic newsletter edited by the IUE Data
Analysis Center (IUEDAC)
intended to inform the numerous remote
and local users of the IUEDAC software of recent
software updates and project changes.
BEYOND US SCIENCE OPERATIONS....
On 30 September, 1995, the US Science operations team turned over IUE
science operations to the ESA ground station at Villafranca. The ESA/PPRC
IUE team will conduct 19th episode science operations from Villafranca
for 16 hours a day. During the remaining 8 hours a skeleton IUE OCC
crew monitors the spacecraft. US guest observers are encouraged to
interface directly will VILSPA staff concerning their 19th episode
programs. VILSPA maintains a WWW homepage dedicated to the 19th epsiode
which can be found at http://www.vilspa.esa.es/iue/iue19th.html .
However, the NASA IUE project is also maintaining a limited level of
guest investigator support. Dr. Richard Arquilla (arquilla@iuedac.gsfc.nasa.
gov), who served as the IUE science operations supervisor and an IUE resident
astronomer for over 9 years, is now acting as a contact point for 19th
episode guest observers. However, we are encouraging observers to
contact the VILSPA staff member assigned to their program if at all possible.
The end of US science operations does not mean the end of the NASA
IUE project. Work continues on the final archive and the IUEDAC continues
to provide users with expert advice and assistance on the reduction and
analysis of IUE data. We will continue to update users on the
status of the IUE final archive and the IUEDAC via this newsletter.
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IUEDAC SOFTWARE AND HARDWARE UPDATES
Recent System Changes:
10/02/95 - "IUERDAF" points to IDL 4.0.1
Recent Software Changes:
20-Sep New versions of IDFILE, VICAR, and DATEREC have been
added to the experimental library which allow GO format
files from a unix-based computer system to be read on a
VMS computer.
21-Sep A bug in IDBFINDE was corrected to allow the last entry
in a database table to be properly located.
22-Sep The IUE merged observing log has been updated. Goddard
entries through Aug. 16th are now included.
02-Oct The IUERDAF command has been modified to execute
IDL 4.0.1 (instead of IDL 3.6). The batch command
files for COMPRESS and GEX were also modified to
call IDL instead of IDLV2.
04-Oct The following routines from the experimental library
were implemented:
newcalib - includes calibrations for LWP set 2
low dispersion spectra
gotordaf - allows imaget to be an array & includes
/noquota option
vicar - supports fixed length record GO files
datarec - supports fixed length record GO files
idfile - supports fixed length record GO files
ifitsrd - extracts up to 20 (rather than 17) fields
from a FITS table
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NOTICE: As of October 2nd, the IDLV2 symbol, which points to
IDL 3.6 on IUE, will be deleted and replaced with the
symbol IDL. The IDL symbol, as well as the IUERDAF
logical, will both execute IDL 4.0.1.
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IUE IMAGE PROCESSING NEWS
IUESIPS STATUS
The IPC staff have now processed all the remaining NASA current
(newly obtained) images and all remaining archival reprocessing
images. Nearly all of the GO tapes have been shipped out. If you
are missing any data or have questions about your IUESIPS
processing or GO tape shipments, please contact us (Cathy Imhoff,
IUESIPS processing, imhoff@iuegtc.gsfc.nasa.gov, or Karen Levay,
GO tape shipments, levay@iuegtc.gsfc.nasa.gov).
NEWSIPS STATUS
The IPC has now processed virtually all of the available NASA
SWP and LWP low dispersion data. Data which are still
proprietary have not yet been processed through NEWSIPS, but
this will be done as data become publicly accessible. Some
images have not been processed because of missing database
information or other problems. We are currently working on
getting those images taken care of and processed. If you
need images that seem unavailable, please contact Cathy Imhoff
(301-794-1470, or imhoff@iuegtc.gsfc.nasa.gov). She can check
on them and in many cases fix the problem so that the images can
be processed.
Please note that some data have been processed and delivered
to NSSDC, but are not yet available from NDADS. NSSDC is
working on getting that data online.
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OLD USER ACCOUNTS ON TAPE
The IUE Data Analysis Center has VMS Backup tapes
for its USER accounts dating back to 1988. Those
older than September 1994 are 9-track tapes. We
are planning to discard these old 9-track tapes
in December (1995). Users who want their files
restored from these tapes should contact us before
that time. This pertains only to accounts USER1
through USER60 at the times that these accounts
were recycled (i.e., backed up and then cleared
for disposition to new users).
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THE IUE ULDA/USSP ACCESS GUIDES.
It was expected from the very beginning of the IUE
project that the archival value of the data obtained with
IUE would be very high. This expectation has been borne out
fully. The average IUE Archive data retrieval rate is some
61,000 spectra per year. This compares with a new data
collection rate of 5,500 spectra per year. Considering that
the demand for observing time still exceeds the available
time by a factor of 3, it is clear that the IUE Archive is
an important source of data. The IUE ULDA/USSP (Uniform Low
Dispersion Archive/ULDA Support Software Package) was
developed by ESA to make IUE low resolution spectra
available in a way which would not involve project staff
and simplify consulting IUE data. It continues to support
some 47% of all data retrieval from the IUE Project. At the
ESA IUE Observatory the ULDA/USSP is an integral part of
the archival data distribution system in which National
Hosts play an important role. Pioneering remote de-
archiving, the ULDA/USSP has fulfilled an existing need in
the access to IUE Data. The low resolution data set was
chosen since it represented a data set excellently suitable
for remote de-archiving, and at the same time not
overloading the facilities available in 1987 at the
National Host Institutes. Currently 24 National Hosts
participate in the ULDA/USSP system and serve the need for
IUE data of scientists in 27 countries. New hosts continue
to be integrated easily and regularly.
The subset of the IUE Archive contained in the ULDA and
accessible through the USSP, consists of the low resolution
IUE spectra in a form directly applicable to all modern
Scientific Analysis techniques. Version 4.0 of the
ULDA/USSP has been released in February 1993 and contains
all -98.7% complete- low resolution spectra obtained with
IUE before January 1st, 1992 (54,200 spectra). The details
of the construction of the ULDA and the design of the USSP
can be found in Wamsteker et al. (Astronomy and
Astrophysics Supplement Series, Vol. 79, pg. 1-10, 1989)
and in ESA IUE Newsletter#30, which also contains a Users
Guide.
The quantity of data in the IUE Archive is sufficiently
large that it is not necessarily simple to address the data
efficiently in the context of an astrophysical problem,
even though access to the data is extremely easy. The
purpose of the series of ULDA Access Guides is: To
facilitate the use of the IUE Archive for scientists with a
specific astrophysical problem in mind. The series of
ULDA/USSP Access Guides consists of a number of subject-
oriented books, for which a specialist in the field has
been invited to take the scientific responsibility. The
series is being build up gradually with the purpose to
supply a complete set of Access guides by the time the
IUEFA is finished. A further redistribution on more modern
media is under consideration. In the case this will be done
it is expected to update the contents to include the most
recent status of the IUE Archive.
Previous issues of the IUE-ULDA Access Guides:
(Series editor: W. Wamsteker)
No.1 ESA SP 1114 C. la Dous :
Dwarf Novae and Nova-like Stars.
No.2 ESA SP 1134 M. Festou :
Comets.
No.3 ESA SP 1152 G. Longo, M.Capaccioli :
Normal Galaxies.
No.4 ESA SP 1153 (Vol. A &B) T.J.-L. Courvoisier,
S. Paltini:
Active Galactic Nuclei.
No.5 ESA SP 1181 (Vol. I & II) C. la Dous, A.
Gimenez :
Chromospherically Active Binary Stars.
No.6 ESA SP 1189 E. Cappellaro, M. Turatto, J.
Fernley:
Supernovae
A limited number of copies are still available. Copies of
the IUE-ULDA Access Guides can be obtained for a nominal
charge from:
ESA Publications Division
c/o ESTEC (att: F. de Zwaan)
Keplerlaan 1
P.O. Box 299
2200 AG Noordwijk, the Netherlands
FAX: +31-71-5655433
Electronic address: FDEZWAAN@VMPROFS.ESTEC.ESA.NL
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Editor: Dr. Michael Carini
Contributors: Mr. Randy Thompson
Ms. Lyla Taylor
Dr. Cathy Imhoff
Dr. Richard Arquilla
Dr. Willem Wamsteker
Back to IUE Data Analysis Center Page
Web Curator:
Dr. Michael Carini, Science Programs, Computer Sciences Corporation.
Responsible NASA organization/official:
Dr. Don West, IUE Operations Scientist.