• Processing (Info)

    • Submission Format for Sky Coverage Data

    In order to submit your own sky coverage data for inclusion to the Sky Coverage on-line utility, you need to send a properly-formatted message to skycov@cfa.harvard.edu.

    The subject line should contain the words 'Sky Coverage'.

    The message consists of a header, followed by a variable number of data lines. The header consist of seven lines, six of which contain KEYWORD and VALUE pairs. An example of a valid header is as follows: 

    NEO SEARCH FIELD CENTERS
SOURCE: CATALINA
DATE: 1999314
FIELD SIZE RA: 2.9
FIELD SIZE DEC: 2.9
LIMITING MAGNITUDE: 19.5
FILENAME: NEO1999314
    All seven header lines are mandatory.
    • The first line identifies the message as containing search centers and must be given exactly as shown.
    • The second line (KEYWORD = 'SOURCE') indicates the source of the data: unless otherwise advised you should use your observatory code as the source, e.g.: 
      SOURCE: 683
    • The third line (KEYWORD = 'DATE') specifies the UT date of observation. The date can be specified as either YYYYDDD or YYYYMMDD formats (1999 Feb. 28 could be represented as either 1999059 or 19990228). If your observations span UT midnight, the date given should be the starting date.
    • The fourth and fifth lines (KEYWORD = 'FIELD SIZE RA' and 'FIELD SIZE DECL', respectively) specify the field of view (in decimal degrees) for each image. Note that you must specifiy values for these keywords even if you specify the field size explicitly on each data line (see below).
    • The sixth line (KEYWORD = 'LIMITING MAGNITUDE') indicates the limiting magnitude of the images. Note that a value must be specified even if you specify the limiting magnitude explicitly on each data line (see below).
    • The seventh line (KEYWORD = 'FILENAME') is used only to indicate the end of the header. We do not use the value specified with this keyword, but a value (anything, really) must be given.
    The field centers are then specified, one per line, in free format, using commas to separate the values: 
    Center R.A., Center Decl., Field Size R.A., Field Size Decl, Limiting Mag.
    At a bare minimum you must specify the center R.A. and Decl. (both in decimal degrees), e.g.: 
     344.141667,   7.121944
    You may specify the center R.A. in hours of time, e.g.: 
     22.9427778h, 7.121944
    The field sizes and limiting magnitude may be omitted, in which case default values are taken from the header details. The field sizes, if given, are in decimal degrees.

    An example of a data line specifying all five values (in this case, a long survey strip 13 deg. x 0.75 deg.) is as follows: 

    7.33h, -13.3, 13.0, 0.75, 19.3

    You terminate the list of data lines with a blank line.

    MPC