TUES Search Output Columns

This document defines the catalog entries describing the TUES Data Archive as delivered to STScI by the University of Tübingen in Tübingen, Germany. Most of the documentation below was obtained from Jüergen Barnstedt from the ORFEUS Group at Tübingen.

Archive Background:

The Tübingen Ultraviolet Echelle Spectrometer (TUES), flew on the Orbiting and Retrievable Far and Extreme Ultraviolet Spectrograph (ORFEUS)-SPAS launched on Nov. 19th, 1996. Observations began on Nov. 21st and ended Dec. 2nd.

General Results Options

Most mission search results pages have the following general features/options. (Note that the sorting, paging and VOPlot options all require javascript to be turned on.):

Clicking on the column headings at the TOP of the results table will sort the returned results based on the selected field. Clicking the column heading a second time will sort the results in descending order. Note that a bug currently exists whereby exponents are ignored in numbers using exponential notation (e.g., 6.3E-3 is sorted as if it were 6.3). Since most tables don't include exponential numbers this is not felt to be a major problem.
Clicking one of the column headings at the END of the results table (or clicking the "columns help" link at the top of the page) will display help information about the search results page and the displayed columns (i.e., this page).
By default, results are shown with 50 entries per page, with links to additional pages if more than 50 entries were returned. The number of rows per page can be modified using the "Records per Page" form element on the search form. The total number of entries returned is set by the "Maximum Records" value from the search page. (Note that when the total number of returned rows is a multiple of 50, an extra page is displayed with no entries.)
One numerical column can be plotted versus another using VOPlot.
For some missions, thumbnail images of the reurned entries can be displayed by clicking the link listed just below the VOPlot link.
The mark column, as described below, can be used to plot spectra and download files.

Column Information

Mark

Mark this image for retrieval from MAST or to use the coplotting utility.

To Retrieve:
After selecting the desired files, choose the desired format for your download (.tar, .tar.gz, .tar.Z, .zip) and then click the "Download selected datasets" button to download the selected files.

To Coplot:
After selecting up to 15 observations to be plotted, click on the "Plot marked spectra" button to coplot the selected observations.

The spectra that you selected will be automatically scaled to the full range of wavelengths and nearly the full range of fluxes (i.e., y axis plot scale runs from 0 (or .25 * the minimum flux for spectra with negative fluxes) to the 10th highest flux). Each spectrum is automatically assigned a color, up to a maximum of 15. The spectra are labelled by their dataset names, with a summary of the datasets plotted given below the plot. After inspecting the plot, you may wish to change the selection of datasets which are displayed. Use your browser "Back" button to do this.

Plot range
Adjust the minimum and maximum wavelengths (in \305ngstroms) and minimum and maximum fluxes (in erg/cm2/sec/\3 05) to select the spectral region of interest and to exclude noisy data.

Plot dimensions
Adjust the X size and Y size in pixels to create the size of plot desired. The maximum dimensions are 850 by 64 0 pixels.

Redraw plot
Use this button to replot the spectra when you have changed the plot range or plot dimensions.

Object ID

The project-assigned name of the astronomical object. Clicking on the object name entries will display a preview spectrum.

Data ID

The observation reference number for this target, followed by an underline character and the number of the pointing during this observation. Several pointings during a single observation were sometimes carried out to improve the alignment of the telescope ("grid search"). This resulted partially in very short integrations. "_PH" denotes an integration from single photon events recorded onboard but integrated after the mission.

Clicking ont the data_id entry in the search results table will display the preview spectrum plot for that observation.

RA (J2000)

Object's Right Ascension in J2000 coordinates specified in hours, minutes, and seconds.

Dec (J2000)

Object's declination in J2000 coordinates specified in degrees, minutes, and seconds.

Ref

The Ref column specifies the number of published papers referencing the listed data ID. A dash (i.e., "-") indicates that there are no known papers although note that the database may be incomplete. Clicking on an entry in this column (i.e., an entry other than a "-"), will display the list of referenced papers including title, primary author, and journal citation. The journal references use the ADS Bibliography code, and are links to the ADS Abstract Service.

Observation Date and Time

This is the GMT time of the start of the observation (Note, although stored in the database to the nearest second, the default print format truncates the date to the minute.) TUES2 observations began on Nov. 21st, and ended Dec. 2nd, 1996.

Observation Stop Date and Time

GMT time of the end of the observation.

Exposure Length

The total integration time in seconds for a given observation.

Observation Block

Number of the Echelle observation block. 9 blocks of continuous observations were carried out with the Echelle spectrometer.

Category

These are broad categories assigned by MAST staff based on the object classes used by the IUE project. The possible categories include:

10 W C
11 WN
12 MAIN SEQUENCE O
13 SUPERGIANT O
15 OF
16 SO O
17 WD O
19 OTHER STRONG SOURCES
20 B0-B2 V-IV
21 B3-B5 V-IV
22 B6-B9.5 V-IV
23 B0-B2 III-I
24 B3-B5 III-I
26 BE
27 BP
28 SDB
37 WDA
39 COMPOSITE SPECTRAL TYPE
44 G V-IV
45 G III-I
47 K III-I
54 DWARF NOVAE
57 SYMBIOTIC STARS
63 NOVA-LIKE
64 OTHER
70 PLANETARY NEBULA + CENTRAL STAR

See The IUE classification system originally used for categorizing IUE observations.

Extracted Orders

The range of the Echelle orders extracted. Usually all visible orders from 40 to 61 were extracted. In some cases not all orders could be extracted due to low intensity. For some images no extraction exists at all.

Count Rates

The count rate (in counts/sec) within the integrated image (i.e., total counts in image / integration time).

Helo. Velocity

Heliocentric radial velocity (km/sec) for observation.

Vorbit

Orbital radial velocity (km/sec) for observation.

Vadd

Addition radial velocity (km/sec) used for wavelength correction.

Vblock

Wavelength correction due to the drift of the wavelength scale by time, expressed as radial velocity correction (km/sec). For each Echelle observation block an average wavelength correction was estimated (see J.Barnstedt, N.Kappelmann, I.Appenzeller et al., Astronomy & Astrophysics Suppl. Ser. 134, 1998, 561-568 [astro-ph/0006295] for details).

Comments

Remarks about the observation.

Wavelength Range

The extracted wavelength range for this observation.

Galactic Latitude

The galactic latitude for this observation.

Galactic Longitude

The galactic longitude for this observation.

Ecliptic Latitude

The ecliptic latitude for this observation.

Ecliptic Longitude

The ecliptic longitude for this observation.

Angular Separation (')

The angular separation in arcminutes between the observation and the search center (the coordinates you're searching on). This is calculated during the search, and the search results are sorted in order of increasing angular separation. It has the nice effect of sending parallels to the bottom of the list. (If you're interested in the parallels, you can sort the list in descending order of angular separation.)

It also means that you can give a search radius like, say, 2 .. 8 to find all observations between 2 and 8 arcminutes from some position. This could be used, for example, to exclude observations of the nucleus of a galaxy, or the central star in a planetary nebula.