CHANDRA X-RAY OBSERVATORYCHANDRA X-RAY OBSERVATORYCHANDRA X-RAY OBSERVATORYCHANDRA X-RAY OBSERVATORY
The Universe in a Whole New Light
Kim ArcandVisualization Coordinator
X-ray Data in a X-ray Data in a Digital EnvironmentDigital Environment
CHANDRA X-RAY OBSERVATORYCHANDRA X-RAY OBSERVATORYCHANDRA X-RAY OBSERVATORYCHANDRA X-RAY OBSERVATORY
The Universe in a Whole New Light
Chandra X-ray ObservatoryThe Chandra X-ray Observatory
captures X-ray images and
measures spectra of many high-
energy cosmic phenomena.
Chandra has a highly elliptical orbit
that takes it 1/3 of the way to the
Moon. This orbit allows Chandra to
observe continuously for many
hours at a time, but makes it
unreachable by the Space Shuttle,
which was used to launch it back
in 1999
CHANDRA X-RAY OBSERVATORYCHANDRA X-RAY OBSERVATORYCHANDRA X-RAY OBSERVATORYCHANDRA X-RAY OBSERVATORY
The Universe in a Whole New Light
Chandra DataX-ray data obtained by Chandra
is typically stored on board for
about 8 hours worth at a time.
About three times a day, Chandra
communicates with the Deep
Space Network, sending its newly
acquired data back to Earth while
receiving new instructions from
the ground.
Deep Space Network consists of
three dishes in Australia, Spain,
and California. It is the primary
way that Earth maintains contact
with missions through the Solar
System.
CHANDRA X-RAY OBSERVATORYCHANDRA X-RAY OBSERVATORYCHANDRA X-RAY OBSERVATORYCHANDRA X-RAY OBSERVATORY
The Universe in a Whole New Light
The data transmitted via the Deep Space Network appears as a series of positions
and times. The tables of information can then be translated into an image, for
example, by plotting the position on a grid. Each additional photon for a location
makes that point appear brighter, thus representing a stronger X-ray source.
Chandra Data
CHANDRA X-RAY OBSERVATORYCHANDRA X-RAY OBSERVATORYCHANDRA X-RAY OBSERVATORYCHANDRA X-RAY OBSERVATORY
The Universe in a Whole New Light
False or Representative Color
From the numerical data that is transmitted from the satellite, multi-colored X-ray images
can be made by assigning different parts of the X-ray range that Chandra observes to
colors recognizable to the human eye. The color choice is typically used as a type of
code in which the colors can be associated with the intensity or brightness of the
radiation from different regions of the image, or with the energy of the emission.
CHANDRA X-RAY OBSERVATORYCHANDRA X-RAY OBSERVATORYCHANDRA X-RAY OBSERVATORYCHANDRA X-RAY OBSERVATORY
The Universe in a Whole New Light
Sky in Google Earth
http://earth.google.com/
Google Sky
http://www.google.com/sky/
WorldWide Telescope
http://worldwidetelescope.org/
Wikisky
http://www.wikisky.org/
Digital Planetariums, etc
Virtual Observatories & Digital Environments: New online astronomy
CHANDRA X-RAY OBSERVATORYCHANDRA X-RAY OBSERVATORYCHANDRA X-RAY OBSERVATORYCHANDRA X-RAY OBSERVATORY
The Universe in a Whole New Light
Metadata modified images can be used in multiple digital environments such as Google Sky and WWT. Chandra EPO is currently researching methods to automatically embed metadata into Chandra images.
Chandra Images & Metadata
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The Universe in a Whole New Light
The technology will also allow search engines to find these images dynamically in respect to sky coordinates, object classifications, descriptions, and physical properties like wavelength or distance.
Chandra Images & Metadata
CHANDRA X-RAY OBSERVATORYCHANDRA X-RAY OBSERVATORYCHANDRA X-RAY OBSERVATORYCHANDRA X-RAY OBSERVATORY
The Universe in a Whole New Light
AVM: http://www.virtualastronomy.org/avm_metadata.php
Chandra Images & MetadataThe currently employed standard for metadata tagging is the Astronomy Visualization Metadata (AVM) Standard, which is utilized by multiple observatories, e.g. Chandra, Hubble and Spitzer.
CHANDRA X-RAY OBSERVATORYCHANDRA X-RAY OBSERVATORYCHANDRA X-RAY OBSERVATORYCHANDRA X-RAY OBSERVATORY
The Universe in a Whole New Light
CHANDRA X-RAY OBSERVATORYCHANDRA X-RAY OBSERVATORYCHANDRA X-RAY OBSERVATORYCHANDRA X-RAY OBSERVATORY
The Universe in a Whole New Light
Project Flow
• Stage 1:– Program algorithms to automate XMP file creation. – Agglomerate data from web databases to embed and update
images with XMP information.– Generate workflows to porting images into WorldWide
Telescope and Google Sky. • Stage 2:
– Automate WCS coordinate alignment.– Build automated XMP updater for files on server.
350+ Chandra images currently live in the database, manual placement of metadata (except WCS) in all. WCS placed in about 30-35 images.
Programming in Python, C, and XML
