Using the SHA, long version - Revision history

Rebull at 16:11, 10 May 2012

2012-05-10T16:11:18Z

Rebull at 16:08, 10 May 2012

2012-05-10T16:08:59Z

Rebull: /* Refining your search */

2012-05-10T15:58:03Z

Refining your search

Rebull at 15:56, 10 May 2012

2012-05-10T15:56:51Z

Rebull: /* Level 1 (BCD) tab */

2011-09-01T17:45:56Z

Level 1 (BCD) tab

Rebull: /* Downloading and Unpacking Data */

2011-05-13T17:34:07Z

Downloading and Unpacking Data

Rebull at 17:29, 13 May 2011

2011-05-13T17:29:42Z

Rebull at 17:28, 13 May 2011

2011-05-13T17:28:32Z

Rebull at 17:26, 13 May 2011

2011-05-13T17:26:04Z

Rebull at 17:25, 13 May 2011

2011-05-13T17:25:21Z

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 ==Details pane==
-As you are moving around and selecting observations out of the search results, you may notice that the contents of the details pane change. You can click and drag to resize window panes or column edges.
+As you are moving around and selecting observations out of the search results, you may notice that the contents of the details pane change. You can click and drag to resize window panes or column edges. You can find:
+*information about the AOR, such as original program title, program name, primary science category, principal investigator, and abstract. You can use this information to understand what the original observer was trying to achieve with these observations -- e.g. if they were attempting to observe bright things, it is unlikely that you will be able to use those observations alone to study faint things.
-===AOR-Details Tab===
+*technical information about the observation, such as the AORKEY (a large integer that uniquely identifies this observation in the SHA) and the observing mode parameters that defined this observation (such as frame time and dither pattern). More information about these parameters and their available values for any given instrument or mode can be found at the SSC website.
-From the AOR tab, click on any row (note: no need to select the checkbox on the far left of the row). The row becomes highlighted in green. The details pane on the right side of the window changes accordingly. Select the "Details" tab.
+*the footprint of the observation, e.g., the specific region of sky that was covered by the selected observations. The background image that comes up by default is automatically selected (you can change it), and the outline of the observation (its "footprint") is drawn on the image.
+*information about a specific file.
-The Details tab that appears contains information about that AOR. It starts at the top with a section that contains the original program title, program name, primary science category, principal investigator, and abstract. You can use this information to understand what the original observer was trying to achieve with these observations -- e.g. if they were attempting to observe bright things, it is unlikely that you will be able to use those observations alone to study faint things.
+*the actual data in the file you are investigating.
 =Downloading and Unpacking Data=

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 The online help is on the top right, at the end of the red menu bar. Pick 'Spitzer help' for the right help. There's an option there for K-12 teachers and NITARP, but right now it just points back to our pages ''about'' NITARP, not more information specifically targeted ''at'' you guys. Sorry!
-The yellow bar is your (collapsed) search pane. To search again, click on it, and it will expand.
+Your search pane has collapsed into the blue tab at the top. To search again, click on the blue "Spitzer Searches" tab, and it will reappear.
 The main part of this window is your search results.
-On the left there are individual itemized results. On the right is the "Details Pane", the contents of which changes according to what you have selected in the individual itemized results. There are several tabs here too, and again, these tabs change depending on what you are looking at in the itemized results.
+On the left there are individual itemized results. On the right is the "Details Pane", the contents of which changes according to what you have selected in the individual itemized results (e.g, which row is green). There are several tabs here too in the details pane, and again, these tabs change depending on what you are looking at in the itemized results.
-On the left are three tabs in my example, but the number and content of tabs corresponds to what you have selected for your download. Here are my three tabs:
+On the left pane are several tabs in my example, but the number and content of tabs corresponds to what you have selected for your download. Here are my tabs:
 [[Image:tabshighlights.png]]
-I have tabs that read: "Observation Requests (AOR)" (AORs are Astronomical Observation Requests, e.g. the fundamental unit of Spitzer observing), "Level 2 (PBCD)" (PBCD=Post-Basic Data Products -- products that come from combining individual frames, e.g., mosaics), and "Level 1 (BCD)" (BCD= Basic Data Products -- individual frames from the observations).
+I have tabs that read: "Observation Requests (AOR)" (for nomenclature, see above), "Level 2 (PBCD)" (PBCD=Post-Basic Data Products -- products that come from combining individual frames, e.g., mosaics). I could have also selected "Level 1 (BCD)" data to be returned. For my search here, I also have two "enhanced product" tabs - "IRS Enhanced" (these are from spectra, and delivered by the IRS team), and "Contributed Products" (these are images -- not just in Spitzer bands -- catalogs, and spectra delivered back to us by various teams, largely Legacy teams).
 ==AOR Tab==
-'''As NITARP users, your first stop should be the AOR tab, because this is a high-level summary of the observations.  After you pick which observations you want, then you want the Level 2 tab to get the mosaics (and associated files).'''  Even professional astronomers should start with the AOR tab.  Because each AOR can result in hundreds, sometimes thousands, of files, this AOR tab really is the best place to start browsing!
+'''As NITARP users, your first stop should be the AOR tab, because this is a high-level summary of the observations.  After you pick which observations you want, then you want the Level 2 tab to get the mosaics (and associated files).'''  Even professional astronomers should start with the AOR tab.  Because each AOR can result in many, many files, this AOR tab really is the best place to start browsing!
 Column Headings in the AOR window are:
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 * The file name of the corresponding file once it is unpacked and resident on your disk is listed. The filename contains information about the instrument, channel, and originating AOR as well as the specific contents of the file; see the SSC website for a comprehensive listing of the files available at the PBCD level (Level 2).
 * Several additional columns can be added to the PBCD view. Most of these should be self-explanatory from the column headers (or the tool tips) appearing in the pop-up window that appears when you add columns (see more information on options found in every tab -- in brief, click on the little grid-like icon at the top right of the tab window).
 ==Filtering -- Imposing additional filters to get the most out of your search results==
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 Note that in either the Level 1 or Level 2 tabs, you will find files that cannot be visualized because they are ancillary data tables, e.g., pointing tables.
 ===L1/L2 Coverage Tab===

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 =Refining your search=
-. Maybe you want to customize things further. There are several additional options, as seen in the box above, are:
+. Maybe you want to customize things further. There are several additional options, as seen in the box above:
 *search radius -- change the units, type in the number you want.
 *apply spatial constraints -- do you want it to return whole AORs, or just the region within your search radius?
-*display search results -- which data products do you want?  That's important. Let me repeat that, in bold: '''which data products do you want?'''  Look above, under "Basic Terminology."  In all liklihood, you want the AORs and the Level 2 (post-BCD) data. You can also check Level 1 (BCD).
+*display search results -- which data products do you want?  That's important. Let me repeat that, in bold: '''which data products do you want?'''  Look above, under "Basic Terminology."  In all likelihood, you want the AORs and the Level 2 (post-BCD) data, but you should also look for enhanced products, since those may save you quite a bit of data reduction time. You can also check Level 1 (BCD) if you want to start from the beginning and reduce the data yourself.
 . Now, again, even from here, it's just fine to hit search.  BUT, maybe you want to customize things even further!  Click on the little "More options" line to reveal, well, more options:

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 =Refining your search=
-. Maybe you want to customize things further. The additional options, as seen in the box above, are:
+. Maybe you want to customize things further. There are several additional options, as seen in the box above, are:
 *search radius -- change the units, type in the number you want.
 *apply spatial constraints -- do you want it to return whole AORs, or just the region within your search radius?

@@ Line 79: / Line 79: @@
 * The instrument and observing mode are listed next.
 * The specific bandpass of this individual file is in the next column.
-* The RA and Dec are listed in hh:mm:ss dd:mm:ss format; in a future version, you will be able to convert these to decimal degrees. If "no data" or other unusual values appear here, this is most likely a calibration file.
+* The RA and Dec are listed in hh:mm:ss dd:mm:ss format. If "no data" or other unusual values appear here, this is most likely a calibration file.
 * The exposure time corresponding to this file is given in seconds.
 * Particularly in the case of MIPS, the arrays may be on and collecting data even if the telescope is being used to observe using one of the other fields of view in the instrument. For any given row, if the telescope was optimized for use of the field of view to which the specific file applies, then the "primary field" column is 1; other values indicate that this is serendipitous data. See the MIPS portion of the SSC website for more information on how to use these data.

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 After deciding what data to download, click the checkboxes to pick specific data files to download, and then click "Prepare Download" to begin the packaging and downloading process. A pop-up window will appear in order to define exactly what kinds of data you would like to have packaged up. Clicking OK initializes this process.
-After you click ok, the Background Monitor appears as a panel in your window to keep track of the data download. This panel can be called up by selecting the "Background Monitor" menu option. You can watch your data being packaged, and when the data are available for download, it will update that panel, providing a link for downloading the packaged data.  Click the link to download the data. Your computer should know what to do with it, but it may place it in a "Downloads" folder.
+After you click ok, the packaging process is spun into the Background Monitor. This Background Monitor can be called up by selecting the "Background Monitor" link from the upper right at any time. You can watch your data being packaged, and when the data are available for download, it will update that window, providing a link for downloading the packaged data.  Click the link to download the data. Your computer should know what to do with it, but it may place it in a "Downloads" folder.
 =Contents of your download=

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 [[Image: shapositionsearchstart2.png]]
 . Maybe you are only interested in IRAC data?  Or just MIPS-24 data?  Pick which you want. The default is to return everything. If you want to, e.g., turn off all IRS search results, click on the checkbox next to "All IRS."  (And similarly for the other instruments.)  If you want to search by wavelength instead (maybe you don't remember which channel is which on IRAC), you can also search by wavelength:
 [[Image: shapositionsearchstart3.png]]
 . NOW, click "search."
 =Understanding your results -- the anatomy of the search results page=

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 . Go to the SHA: http://irsa.ipac.caltech.edu/applications/Spitzer/SHA/
-. You are dropped into a "postion search."  (There are other search options on the left.)  Type in the name of an object you care about. The machine will automatically resolve the name, e.g., turn the name into coordinates. You can choose which service does this name resolution - NED or SIMBAD. If you have something extragalactic, NED is better; if you have something else, SIMBAD works better.
+. You are dropped into a "postion search."  (There are other search options on the left.)  Type in the name of an object you care about. The machine will automatically resolve the name, e.g., turn the name into coordinates. You can choose which service does this name resolution - NED or SIMBAD. If you have something extragalactic, NED is better; if you have something else, SIMBAD works better.  You can also type in coordinates directly. In any case, it tells you right below the box exactly what position it thinks you've entered, so you can check that it's doing exactly what you want it to do.
 [[image:shapositionsearchstart.png]]
-. Now, you can just hit search.
+. Now, really, you can just hit search.
 =Refining your search=