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FAQs: GO general |
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Table of Contents: Q: What does "GO" stand for? How about PI or TC? Q: When will my program be scheduled? observed? Q: How do I find out if my favorite target has already been observed (in my program or anyone else's)? Q: Help, you just emailed me that my AORs have been scheduled, and I didn't want them to be scheduled right now! OR, you didn't mail me that my AORs have been scheduled, and my desired scheduling window has now closed. What do I do? Q: My AOR has been scheduled (observed). When will I get the data? Q: How can I check the status of my program? How many AORs have been observed? Q: How can I easily add up the time of AORs executed or determine how much time remains to be executed in my program? Q: How can I modify AORs? Q: How can I request reobservation of an AOR? Q: What software do I need to use to analyze Spitzer data? How do I learn to use this software? There's a LOT of stuff here. Where do I start? Q: How can I tell which pipeline processed my data? How can I tell if my data have been reprocessed under the most recent pipelines? Q: Where was Spitzer exactly during my observations so that I can calculate light-time corrections? Q: What time keywords should I use from the header for the exact start of my AOR? Q: How should I reference my Spitzer data in my journal articles? What acknowledgment should I use? Q: What does "GO" stand for? How about PI or TC?A: "GO" stands for "General Observer". Most Spitzer observers are GOs. There are other research categories as well. "PI" stands for Principle Investigator, e.g. the first person on the Spitzer proposal. "TC" is Technical Contact; a TC is an alternate person who can be contacted for a program if the PI is unavailable, often a deputy PI, or person who actually prepared the AORs if not the PI, or a postdoc or grad student. TCs are authorized to make major decisions about a program if the PI is not available.
Q: When will my program be scheduled? observed?A: We schedule approximately 5 weeks out -- see overview of how scheduling works. You can see when your observation MIGHT be scheduled by comparing the visibilities obtained from Spot for your target and the BIC (Baseline Instrument Campaign) to see when your desired instrument is on. This page has a detailed walkthrough of this process. If you are the PI or TC, you will receive an email from help@spitzer.caltech.edu when your program is scheduled. You will also receive an email from help@spitzer.caltech.edu when your data are available for download via Leopard. If you are interested in a program that is not your own, watch the schedules and logs page to see when objects are scheduled and observed, or search in Leopard (see next FAQ) on the object -- a status of "available" means available for scheduling, and if the observation has been scheduled, a scheduled date appears. Proprietary periods are usually a year from when the PI gets the data, but many programs have different proprietary periods. Leopard will also show you the release date for a AOR whose data have been obtained.
Q: How do I find out if my favorite target has already been observed (in my program or anyone else's)?A: The best thing to do is use Leopard to determine this. Leopard is available for download as part of Spitzer Pride, and there is also a User's Guide. Once you have Leopard running, click on the "Q" button, or select "Query Spitzer Archive" from the File menu. There you can enter the name of the target and any additional info, resolve the coordinates of the target using NED or SIMBAD, and click "OK". A list of AORs queried from the archive will then be loaded into the Leopard window, and you will be able to see the status of the observation, the date the data was released into the archive, and the date the observation was scheduled. You will be able to download the data if it is not proprietary. Note that the AOR Status field value of "available" means "available for scheduling," not "the data are available." If the data have been observed and released into the archive, the status is "nominal." If the data are publicly accessible, then Leopard will show you the wavelengths of data that are available for download. There are also other tools to check and see if your target has already been observed -- there is a plain text ROC, and new for Fall 2005, from within Spot, you can choose "Search programs" under the "file" menu to search for other AORs near your target.
Q: Help, you just emailed me that my AORs have been scheduled, and I didn't want them to be scheduled right now! OR, you didn't mail me that my AORs have been scheduled, and my desired scheduling window has now closed. What do I do?A: Spitzer Science operations are predicated on the requirement that all AORs which have been submitted and are available for scheduling (i.e., do not have a "hold" placed on them) are scientifically viable and can be scheduled at any time consistent with any constraints placed on the observation, without any form of modification. It is the responsibility of each Spitzer observer to ensure that this is always the case. If a flawed AOR "slips through" unnoticed, there is no further recourse. If such an AOR fails to produce good science data, the Spitzer Observing Rules direct that it WILL NOT be considered for re-observation. We schedule approximately 5 weeks out -- see How Scheduling Works. You can see there that by the time the email messages are sent out to the observers, it is too late in the process to pull an AOR (or insert an AOR) unless the health and safety of the observatory is at risk, or unless you have an already-approved ToO. If you know that you don't (or do) want an AOR scheduled at a particular time for a scientifically justified reason, request a modification WELL before the window opens and, if approved, put a timing constraint on it to avoid (or make) that time.
Q: My AOR has been scheduled (observed). When will I get the data?A: It could take up to 3-4 weeks to get your data, depending on a variety of factors. Please see How the Archive Works.
Q: How can I check the status of my program? How many AORs have been observed?A: Use Spot and "View Program" to download your program. The "Status" column tells you the status of each of your AORs. This document defines each of the possible values for this field.
Q: How can I easily add up the time of AORs executed or determine how much time remains to be executed in my program?A: Use Spot and "View Program" to download your program. The duration column indicates the time charged for the observation. The status column (see previous item), tells you which AORs have been observed. Then, you can use Spot (Options -> Sum only selected AORs) to un/select observed AORs (or Edit -> Toggle On Flag) and have Spot show you how much time remains in unobserved AORs.
Q: How can I modify AORs?A: See this page for detailed instructions.
Q: How can I request reobservation of an AOR?A: See this page for detailed instructions.
Q: What software do I need to use to analyze Spitzer data? How do I learn to use this software? There's a LOT of stuff here. Where do I start?A: This page is one-stop-shopping for investigators looking to get started working on Spitzer data -- archive access, data handbooks, software, data processing examples, even IAU naming guidelines and acknowledgments. Spitzer data are standard FITS files and can be analyzed with any software that can handle FITS files. However, the SSC has designed software specifically for working with Spitzer data (aka post-BCD software). You can also find useful resources (or submit your own!) here: Contributed software and other web resources. To learn how to use the SSC post-BCD software, you can start with the the data demos (a.k.a. "threads") to step through several examples.
Q: How can I tell which pipeline processed my data? How can I tell if my data have been reprocessed under the most recent pipelines?A: One of the columns returned by leopard is the pipeline version number of the most recently reprocessed version of the data. Each instrument has a pipeline history file (example from MIPS), and the most recent pipeline version is at the top. From this page, you can also see how the most recent pipeline version is different from the version last used to process your data. We release new versions of the pipeline roughly every 6 months, but not every new release triggers a reprocessing of the whole archive. Even when there is a reprocessing, there is so much data that it takes a long time to go through the whole archive. Data are reprocessed on a campaign-by-campaign basis; this page summarizes the reprocessing status for each campaign.
Q: Where was Spitzer exactly during my observations so that I can calculate light-time corrections?A: The answer can be found in this file.
Q: What time keywords should I use from the header for the exact start of my AOR?A: The DATE_OBS value is a real date-time string representing the absolute UTC time at the very start of data aquisition or "array activity" for the DCE, i.e, the start of any boost (for DCENUM=0) or, the start of a reset (for DCENUMs > 0). (It has nothing to do with image timing or readouts.) UTCS_OBS is the number of real seconds past midnight, year 2000 at the _UTC_ time of the DCE start (or array activity as above). Both DATE_OBS and UTCS_OBS are computed from spacecraft telemetry clock counters (SCLK_OBS coarse and fine bit ticks) and calibrated using an atomic clock in Boulder to correct for on-board drifts. In a nutshell, DATE_OBS is the most accurate, absolute measurement for comparing with astronomical emphemerides. SCLK_OBS (in real sec) is good for relative timing comparisons within an AOR or even a campaign.
Q: How should I reference my Spitzer data in my journal articles? What acknowledgment should I use?A: This answer comes in two parts: Go back to FAQ page.
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help@spitzer.caltech.edu http://ssc.spitzer.caltech.edu/faq/go.html
