Planetary Science Virtual Observatory architecture

In the framework of the Europlanet-RI program, a prototype of Virtual Observatory dedicated to Planetary Science was defined. Most of the activity was dedicated to the elaboration of standards to retrieve and visualize data in this field, and to provide light procedures to teams who wish to contribute with on-line data services. The architecture of this VO system and selected solutions are presented here, together with existing demonstrators

The EPN-TAP protocol for the Planetary Science Virtual Observatory

A Data Access Protocol has been set up to search and retrieve Planetary Science data in general. This protocol will allow the user to select a subset of data from an archive in a standard way, based on the IVOA Table Access Protocol (TAP). The TAP mechanism is completed by an underlying Data Model and reference dictionaries. This paper describes the principle of the EPN- TAP protocol and interfaces, underlines the choices that have been made, and discusses possible evolutions.Comment: 21 pages. Submitted to Astronomy & Computing, S.I. Virtual Observator

Performance of the CMS Cathode Strip Chambers with Cosmic Rays

The Cathode Strip Chambers (CSCs) constitute the primary muon tracking device in the CMS endcaps. Their performance has been evaluated using data taken during a cosmic ray run in fall 2008. Measured noise levels are low, with the number of noisy channels well below 1%. Coordinate resolution was measured for all types of chambers, and fall in the range 47 microns to 243 microns. The efficiencies for local charged track triggers, for hit and for segments reconstruction were measured, and are above 99%. The timing resolution per layer is approximately 5 ns