60 research outputs found
Multiple Depth DB Tables Indexing on the Sphere
Any project dealing with large astronomical datasets should consider the use of a relational database server (RDBS). Queries requiring quick selections on sky regions, objects cross-matching and other high-level data investigations involving sky coordinates could be unfeasible if tables are missing an effective indexing scheme. In this paper we present the Dynamic Index Facility (DIF) software package. By using the HTM and HEALPix sky pixelization schema, it allows a very efficient indexing and management of spherical data stored into MySQL tables. Any table hosting spherical coordinates can be automatically managed by DIF using any number of sky resolutions at the same time. DIF comprises a set of facilities among which SQL callable functions to perform queries on circular and rectangular regions. Moreover, by removing the limitations and difficulties of 2-d data indexing, DIF allows the full exploitation of the RDBS capabilities. Performance tests on Giga-entries tables are reported together with some practical usage of the package
SDAMS: SPOrt Data Archiving and Management System
Abstract. SDAMS is the ensemble of database + software packages aimed to the archiving, quick-look analysis, off-line analysis, network accessibility and plotting of the SPOrt produced data. Many of the aspects related to data archiving, analysis and distribution are common to almost all the astronomical experiments. SDAMS ambition is to face and solve problems like accessibility and portability of the data on any hardware/software platform in a way as simpler as possible, though effective. The system is conceived in a way to be used either by the scientific community interested in background radiation studies or by a wider public with low or null knowledge of the subject. The user authentication system allows us to apply different levels of access, analysis and data retrieving. SDAMS will be accessible through any Web browser though the most efficient way to use it is by writing simple programs. Graphics and images useful for outreach purposes will be produced and put on the Web on a regular basis
DAS: a data management system for instrument tests and operations
The Data Access System (DAS) is a metadata and data management software
system, providing a reusable solution for the storage of data acquired both
from telescopes and auxiliary data sources during the instrument development
phases and operations. It is part of the Customizable Instrument WorkStation
system (CIWS-FW), a framework for the storage, processing and quick-look at the
data acquired from scientific instruments. The DAS provides a data access layer
mainly targeted to software applications: quick-look displays, pre-processing
pipelines and scientific workflows. It is logically organized in three main
components: an intuitive and compact Data Definition Language (DAS DDL) in XML
format, aimed for user-defined data types; an Application Programming Interface
(DAS API), automatically adding classes and methods supporting the DDL data
types, and providing an object-oriented query language; a data management
component, which maps the metadata of the DDL data types in a relational Data
Base Management System (DBMS), and stores the data in a shared (network) file
system. With the DAS DDL, developers define the data model for a particular
project, specifying for each data type the metadata attributes, the data format
and layout (if applicable), and named references to related or aggregated data
types. Together with the DDL user-defined data types, the DAS API acts as the
only interface to store, query and retrieve the metadata and data in the DAS
system, providing both an abstract interface and a data model specific one in
C, C++ and Python. The mapping of metadata in the back-end database is
automatic and supports several relational DBMSs, including MySQL, Oracle and
PostgreSQL.Comment: Accepted for pubblication on ADASS Conference Serie
CIWS-FW: a Customizable InstrumentWorkstation Software Framework for instrument-independent data handling
The CIWS-FW is aimed at providing a common and standard solution for the
storage, processing and quick look at the data acquired from scientific
instruments for astrophysics. The target system is the instrument workstation
either in the context of the Electrical Ground Support Equipment for
space-borne experiments, or in the context of the data acquisition system for
instrumentation. The CIWS-FW core includes software developed by team members
for previous experiments and provides new components and tools that improve the
software reusability, configurability and extensibility attributes. The CIWS-FW
mainly consists of two packages: the data processing system and the data access
system. The former provides the software components and libraries to support
the data acquisition, transformation, display and storage in near real time of
either a data packet stream and/or a sequence of data files generated by the
instrument. The latter is a meta-data and data management system, providing a
reusable solution for the archiving and retrieval of the acquired data. A
built-in operator GUI allows to control and configure the IW. In addition, the
framework provides mechanisms for system error and logging handling. A web
portal provides the access to the CIWS-FW documentation, software repository
and bug tracking tools for CIWS-FW developers. We will describe the CIWS-FW
architecture and summarize the project status.Comment: Accepted for pubblication on ADASS Conference Serie
REM: Automatic for the People
We present the result of a year-long effort to think, design, build, realize, and manage the robotic, autonomous REM observatory, placed since June 2003 on the cerro La Silla, ESO Chile. The various aspects of the management and control are here surveyed, with the nice ideas and the wrong dead ends we encountered under way. Now REM is offered to the international astronomical community, a real, schedulable telescope, automatic for the People
the rem observing software
The Rapid Eye Mount (REM) is a 60 cm robotic telescope located at La Silla, Chile. Its Observing Software (REMOS) is constituted by a set of distributed intercommunicating processes organized around a central manager. Together they grant the system safety, automatically schedule and perform observations with two simultaneous cameras of user-defined targets, and drive fast reaction to satellite alerts. Subsequent data reduction is left to pipelines managed by each camera
GRB follow-up and science with THESEUS/IRT
The aim of the space mission concept THESEUS is to continue to collect and study the GRB events like Swift. It will allow us to study the early Universe. Moreover, it will offer us to study with unprecedented sensitivity GRB emission and to measure the redshift for the bursts with z>5. In this work, we investigate the advantages of a optical and near-infrared telescope mounted on the same satellite that is triggered by the GRB like THESEUS/IRT. Afterwards, we investigate the possible future developments in the GRB science, first for the prompt phase and the for afterglow phase. We find that more than half of the sources detected by THESEUS, and will never be visible from a a ground-based telescope. Moreover, only ∼50% of all observable sources are visible within one hour, i.e. <30% of all THESEUS transient sources. A higher number of observable sources can only be achieved with a network of telescopes. THESEUS will permit to detect the NIR prompt phase of the longest GRBs, increasing the number of events studied from gamma-rays to the near-infrared from a handful of events studied up to now to ≳10 GRBs per year
Synergy between THESEUS and E-ELT
The Transient High Energy Sky and Early Universe Surveyor (THESEUS) is a space mission concept aimed at exploiting Gamma-Ray Bursts for investigating the early Universe and at providing a substantial advancement of multi-messenger and time-domain astrophysics. A fundamental contribution to achieve this goal will be provided by the powerful synergy between THESEUS and the extremely large ground-based telescopes which will operate in the next decade, like E-ELT. We discuss great improvements coming from this joint effort and describe some possible observing scenarios
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