Date: Thu, 6 Sep 2007 11:57:08 -0700 (PDT)
Subject: Release of SPICE 2.0, CUBISM paper, Spitzer Conference reminder


Contents of mailing:

1.  Release of SPICE 2.0
2.  CUBISM paper
3.  Spitzer Conference reminder

1.  Release of SPICE 2.0
-----------------------------------------
We announce the release of a new version of the Spitzer IRS
Custom Extraction (SPICE) software, which provides a JAVA-based
tool for interactive extraction of Spitzer Infrared Spectrograph (IRS)
spectra.  SPICE is designed to allow the user to:

* visualize the extraction performed by the SSC pipeline
* examine features at known wavelengths in the 2D dispersed image
* extract multiple targets along the slit
* extract local sky spectra along the slit
* re-extract target spectra after sky subtraction on the 2D
    dispersed image
* re-extract target spectra after interpolation over, e.g., bad
    pixels
* extract spectra from multiple frames in batch mode.

The latest version has the same "look and feel" as Spot, Leopard,
and the new MOPEX GUI. Functionality is similar to previous
versions of SPICE; the batch mode is now more user-friendly, and
SPICE now incorporates some of the image display capabilities of
Spot and Leopard.  Users should switch to the new version, as the
older version will no longer be supported.  All future updates to
SPICE will be distributed via the auto-update function of the
GUI.

SPICE 2.0 is available for download from the Post-BCD pages on
the SSC website:


http://ssc.spitzer.caltech.edu/postbcd/spice.html.

Supported Platforms: Solaris 8+, Mac OSX 10.3+, RedHat Linux.
The GUI may now also run under other flavors of Linux.  If you
are unsuccessful at installing or running the GUI, please let us
know at the Helpdesk, help@spitzer.caltech.edu.


2.  CUBISM paper
-----------------------------------------
A paper documenting the algorithms and design of CUBISM is being
published: "Spectral Mapping Reconstruction of Extended Sources,"
J.D.T. Smith et al., PASP, 2007, in press.  The preprint version
of this paper is now available at http://arxiv.org/abs/0708.3745.

Please refer to this paper for the details and also please
reference it for all published work utilizing CUBISM.


3. Spitzer Conference reminder
-----------------------------------------
From Kartik Sheth and Alberto Noriega-Crespo, Conference organizers:

Dear colleagues,

We want to remind you of an exciting conference being held
in Pasadena from 2007 Dec 2 through 5.  The topic is "The Evolving ISM
in the Milky Way and Nearby Galaxies" -- this will be the fourth Spitzer
Conference, and it will focus on the interstellar medium (ISM) and
its interplay with star formation in the Milky Way and nearby galaxies.
We have worked hard to organize a meeting that will not be packed
with talks, but instead will have significant chunks of interaction
time to bring together the communities studying our own Galaxy and
those studying similar phenomena in nearby galaxies.  We invite you
to check out the details of the meeting at this website:

http://ssc.spitzer.caltech.edu/mtgs/ismevol/

Please note:  The abstract submission and registration deadline for the
Conference is 2007 September 21.  We kindly request that you forward
this information to colleagues and friends in your department and in our
community and encourage them to register for the Conference.  We hope
to see you in Pasadena in December.


Spitzer Science User Support