Starting Email - 20 Jan 2012

Notes by Ciardi on Places to start looking for photometric data.

I started by writing up a tutorial on how to do general searches and which websites to start with.

Related to this, Steve and I have provided a list of test objects for you to practice searching on.

• Steve collected for me the the blue objects that we know to be white dwarfs, cataclysmic variables, planetary nebulae, and active nuclei of galaxies. That list is given in the attached file testset.tbl

• Because the various only services typically do not like files with so many comments and coordinates listed in hours/degrees, minutes, and seconds, I have compacted this file and converted the coordinates into decimal degrees (see below and attached pdf file), and I have made this file a comma separated file (csv). This means that excel will read it as well as normal text editors, but more importantly, the online services can read it. This file is testset.csv (although be warned, some services only want RA, Dec and you may need to make changes to this file to get it to work with some services - again see the pdf file).

• And now the pdf file - I have tried to think about this project from the point of view of where would I start, and how would I proceed. I tried to put into a somewhat condensed tutorial. I am hoping this pdf file will help you get started - in particular, I hope you take this as a starting point to explore and play with the various sites.

• What I would like to see each of you do is try to collect information and on each of the objects in the test sample so you can become familiar with the services.

Objects were in two files ... first file (testset.tbl) they were grouped by category and coordinates were in sexagesimal, second file (testset.csv), coordinates converted to decimal degrees and file formated for general upload services (but not always ---)