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Search and Retrieval from the Chandra Data Archive
Search and Retrieval interfaces:
For distribution of proprietary data, see the
Standard Data Distribution.
The Chandra Caldb
is available for download from the CDA ftp site; release notes are
here.
For help in analyzing Chandra data, see the CIAO
page. For Cookbook-like recipes there are the
CIAO analysis threads.
For details on problems to be aware of, see the
Caveats page or the
CXCDS Processing
Status Tool.
ChaSeR, the CDA Search and
Retrieval tool is implemented as
a platform-independent Java application. Download and installation is
made easy and the application will notify users when updates are
available. The only caveat concerns older window managers such as
twm and tvtwm which are not fully X11-compliant and not
supported anymore.
ChaSeR allows users to browse the observation catalog with a
variety of search criteria, to display preview images, and to stage for
download any combination of public data products. In addition, it
allows authorized download of proprietary data products. In due
course it will replace the current procedure for proprietary data
distribution via the ftp site.
A Web version of ChaSeR,
the CDA Search and Retrieval tool is now available, with slightly
different functionality.
The main restriction is that only complete primary and/or secondary
data products packages may be retrieved.
On the other hand, specification of multiple ObsIds has been made
easier and log in for obtaining proprietary data has been improved,
while more observation-specific information is available, including
links to the ADS.
This release is aimed at the majority of users who just want to
retrieve the primary and secondary data products for specific
observations; it offers, for instance, an alternative to PIs and CoIs
for obtaining their new observations.
Users outside of North America may be served from different mirrors of
the CDA during data retrieval for better data transfer performance.
Two caveats:
- Selecting a range in galactic coordinates works reasonably well for
small rectangles, as long as one stays away from the poles. Large
ranges and ranges covering the poles may give surprising results.
- For certain ObsIds retrieval of secondary and/or supporting products
(e.g., aspect solutions) may not return all products that are required.
RetrievER is a simple
interface that allows access to, and
retrieval of, data associated with Engineering Requests (ERs) which
are not otherwise available from ChaSeR or WebChaSeR.
See the Guide to Chandra Archive Data Products
for the list of data products available.
This page is maintained by the Chandra Data Archive Operations
group
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