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This is a brief summary intended to give users help on searching the ObsCat database with Target Search Form. With this form you can find all your observations and obtain target information. Alternatively one could find, for instance, all observations of a favorite target using a particular instrument and grating configuration. Cone searches can also be performed in conjunction with any combination of other parameters. Furthermore, multiple fields can be used to narrow down a search. For example, selecting "HRC-S" in the Science Instrument field and "LETG" in the Grating field will find all observations using the HRC-S/LETG combination. Selecting "Murray" in the PI field, "00:20" in the RA field, "-72:" in the Dec field, "5" in the Radius field and "degrees" in the Units pull down menu will find all of Murray's observations within a 5 degree radius centered on RA 00:20, Dec -72:. Any questions beyond the scope of this page should be directed to the HelpDesk.
| Range Searches | Range searches can be performed using the following format: # -- # e.g. entering "100000 -- 100009" in the Sequence Number field will find all searches matching or between these specified values. Range searches can be performed on the Sequence Number, Proposal Number and Obs ID fields. |
| List Searches | Comma separated list searches can be performed using the following format: Entering "#, #, #, etc." in the Obs ID field will perform an exact match on every Obs ID in the list. One may use the asterisk (*) in an element of the list to indicate a wildcard match. List searches can be performed on the Sequence Number, Proposal Number and Obs ID fields. |
| Coordinate Searches | There are two types of coordinate searches: Cone and Exact. |
| A cone search searches for all observations within a certain search radius. The user specifies the center point in the RA and Dec fields and then a radius in either minutes or degrees. For example, selecting "05:37:45.38" in the RA field, "-65:38:49.87" in the Dec field, "10" in the Radius field and "degrees" in the Units pull down menu will find all observations within 10 degrees of the specified coordinates. | |
| An exact search can be performed by entering exact coordinates in the RA and Dec fields and leaving the Units pull down menu blank. For example, selecting "20:02:49.60" in the RA field, "+25:14:11.30" in the Dec field and leaving the Units pull down menu blank will find any observations with those exact coordinates if they exist. | |
| Wildcard matches | You may use the wildcard "*" on either side of a number in the Sequence Number, Proposal Number or Obs ID fields. A number entered without an asterisk will be treated as an exact match. Wildcards may be used within a comma-separated list. |
Fields | |
| Sequence Number | The sequence number of an observation. Entering "50" will retrieve observations with sequence numbers consisting of "50". eg. observations with sequence numbers 200050, 500044, etc. Range and list searches can be performed on this field. |
| Proposal Number | The proposal number of an observation. Entering "011" will retrieve observations with proposal numbers consisting of "011". eg. observations with propoal numbers 01100297, 01500111, etc. Range and list searches can be performed on this field. |
| PI Name | The last name of the Principal Investigator for an observation. Entering "ha" will retrieve observations from PI's with an "ha" in their last name. eg. Sharp, Hayes, etc. |
| Observer | The last name of the Observer for an observation. Entering "ki" will retrieve observations from Observers with a "ki" in their last name. eg. Akins, Kilgard, etc. |
| Target | The name of the Target for an observation. Entering "NGC" will retrieve observations of Targets with an "NGC" in their name. eg. NGC3310, NGC3256, etc. By default, the target search performs an exact match anchored to the beginning of the search string, so searching for GC3256 will find nothing. It is recommended that Simbad name resolving be used if you do not know EXACTLY how your target is entered in the Chandra database. |
| Simbad | Check this box if you wish to use Simbad for name resolving. The search will be done using the coordinates returned by Simbad and a cone of radius 4 arcmin. The size of this cone may be changed by entering a radius and units. |
| Science Category | The Science Category of the Observation. This field is the Science Category selected at the time of proposal submission. Selecting "ALL" will search all categories; selecting an individual category will exclude targets from all other categories. |
| Obs ID | The Observation ID of the target. Range and list searches can be performed on this field. |
| RA | The Right Ascension for an observation. Must be used in conjunction with a Declination. Cone and exact searches are available. Please see Coodinate searches for more details. |
| Dec | The Declination for an observation. Must be used in conjunction with a Right Ascension. Cone and exact searches are available. Please see Coodinate searches for more details. |
| Radius | The Radius of the search in either degrees or minutes. Used in conjunction with the Units pull down menu in cone searches. Please see Coodinate searches for more details. |
| Units | The units of radii. Choices are blank, degrees or minutes. Default is blank, which specifies an exact search. Used in conjunction with a radius in cone searches. Please see Coodinate searches for more details. |
| Science Instrument | Specifies which detector will be on the optical axis during the observation. Choices are blank, ACIS-I, ACIS-S, HRC-I or HRC-S. |
| ACIS Mode | Specifies what ACIS mode the observation was done in. Note that selecting one of these modes will de facto limit your search to ACIS observations. |
| Grating | Specifies which grating to use. Options are blank, HETG, LETG or none. |
| Observation Type | Type of observation. Choices are blank, GO, GTO, CAL or TOO. |
| Status | Status of observation. Choices are Unobserved, Scheduled, Partially
Observed, Observed, Archived, Canceled and Discarded.
If this is a hyperlink, clicking on it will take you to the Processing
Status Table for that observation. Note: Canceled observations will only be listed if the appropriate 'Status' box is checked. |
| Joint Proposal | Joint flag of observation. Choices are blank, NOAO,
HST-CXO, HST-HST, NOAO+HST
NOAO - joint with NOAO / approved by Chandra |
| Sorting | One can choose to sort the output of their query by either Sequence Number or RA. Default is Sequence Number. |
Last modified: 10/27/04
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Center (CXC) is operated for NASA by the Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory. 60 Garden Street, Cambridge, MA 02138 USA. Email: cxcweb@head.cfa.harvard.edu Smithsonian Institution, Copyright © 1998-2004. All rights reserved. |