Spitzer Data Analysis Cookbooks

Welcome to the Spitzer Data Analysis Cookbooks page.

Here you will find BETA VERSIONS of some Spitzer data analysis cookbooks. This website is a WORK IN PROGRESS and is likely to be updated on short timescales. There may be a lag between when new routines become available and when the demos are updated. We have designed the demos to use only publicly available data and routines so that everyone can use them at any time. We know that you may have access to a variety of data analysis software. The cookbooks are presently designed to help you learn how to use the SSC software packages MOPEX, SPICE, SMART, and IRSFRINGE for Spitzer data analysis. Spitzer data can be analysed using anything that reads FITS files, however, you should keep in mind that the Spitzer images are in units of MJy/sr when you are using other packages. Please send us your feedback or other tips for analyzing Spitzer data with other packages (IRAF, IDL, skyview, sextractor, etc.) at help@spitzer.caltech.edu and we will do our best to incorporate your suggestions as soon as possible.

Step 1: Retrieving Spitzer Data

An overview of how to download Spitzer Pride (Spot and Leopard), visualize your AORs and retrieve your proprietary or public Spitzer observations.

Step 2 (imaging):

Imaging: Initial BCD manipulation

Demos on how to prepare/clean your basic calibrated data (BCDs) in order to improve the quality of your post-BCD products. This is an iterative process. As a first step, you should use the BCDs produced by the pipeline. This will allow you to evaluate how to best improve on the quality of your final products.

Imaging: Mosaicking

Provides information on how to download, install and run the mosaicking package. The demos show you how to adjust the input parameters to improve the quality of your mosaic.

Imaging: Point Source Extraction

Provides information on how to download, install and run the mosaicking package. The point source extraction demos cover a wide range of topics that include source detection, estimation of PRF, point source fitting and flux extraction, and point source subtraction. How this can be done in a mosaic or in a stack of individual frames is addressed.

Imaging: Bandmerging of Point Sources (no demos presently available, coming soon)

Provides information on how to download, install and run the bandmerge package. Demos on how to bandmerge two to seven input ASCII table files of single-band point source information and produce a list of band combinations.

Step 2 (spectroscopy):

Spectroscopy: Defringing

Provides information on how to download, install and run the defringer package. These demos demonstrate how the observer can interactively remove fringes from IRS spectra with IRSFRINGE.

Spectroscopy: Custom Spectrum Extraction using SPICE

Provides information on how to download, install and run the spectrum extraction package called SPICE. Basic information on how to use SPICE to interactively extract IRS spectra.

Spectroscopy: Custom Spectrum Extraction using SMART

Provides information on how to download, install and run the contributed software spectrum extraction package called SMART. Basic information on how to use SMART to interactively extract IRS spectra.