Eycos USER GUIDE User Manual

AladinUser manualPierre FerniqueTranslation: Caroline Bot, Mark Allen1 IntroductionAladin is an interactive software sky atlas allowing

3. Popup menus available via a mouse right click or CTRL click (Mac);4. Some keyboard shortcuts. Note: it is also possible to perform these operations

5 The graphical interface in detailsAladin offers a rich graphical interface for achieving in a few clicks most basic functions.The two main windows a

Tip: The relative proportions of the different components can be adjusted using the on the bottom of the tool bar. Click and Drag for adjustingGuide

the operations and simultaneously, the mouse pointer will move alone displaying thecorresponding actions.5.1.1 The stackThe stack represents all the d

a colour composite of the two (or three) image may be constructed, and multiple imagesmay be directly compared by creating 'blink' planes.

Menu : Edit => PropertiesShort key: Ctrl + EnterThe “prop” button brings up a window withproperties of a plane. This is also available

projection of the enclosed catalogue planes should be “local” (restricted to images inthat folder), or “global” (to project on all images beneath it i

Object location In order to trace astronomical objects to their precise location, Aladin is based on theastronomical solution linked to the image, e.g

fully to the right, the image located on top will completely hide the corresponding part ofthe image below.It can be useful to swap image

highlighted with a small green square. If the selected objects are astronomical sources,then the associated measures will appear in the measure

(see the copyright). It has been translated in English, French, Italian, German, Persian,Russian, Chinese…Aladin is mainly used for : Visualizing and

Coordinates grid Icon: grid Menu: Overlay => GridShort key: Alt+GActivating a grid can be done either with the “grid” icon located below the view

thousands of view can be created (see 6.5 – thumbnails creations). Only the views thatare visible make use of random access memory (RAM).Allocations

images are identical but pixels have been put out of shape. Matched views areautomatically selected and can be noticed by th

Outside the size of the display window, both modes are identical. The use of Aladin in“full screen” or “simple window” mode changes the normal usage i

Tip: The mode “simple window” presents all the basic function from Aladin. It can beused by default (see 8.1 – user profiles) and in particular if Al

The four buttons giving access to the graphical tools tomeasure distance, to draw by hand, to place tags or towrite text are always clickable. Choosin

pixels for the peak below. This method is useful for example to make a quickapproximation for the width at half maximum of

The “magnifying glass” toolButton: mglssMenu: Image =>Magnifier glass, Pixel tableShort key: Ctrl+GWhen the magnifying glass is activated, the zoom

The delete tool is highly dependant on the context. Depending on the element(s)selected with the mouse, it will delete one of

Note: The reference system is used for displaying coordinates but also for enteringcoordinates in any Aladin forms.Pixel value The pixel va

Installation under Macintosh uses a classic “dmg” package. Download it, open it, andcopy the “Aladin.app” file in your “Applications” folder. That’s a

Script command The location field can also be used, not only for a location, but also to type any otherscript command (see 7.1 – Aladin with script

Measures from different cataloguesIf the selected sources come from different catalogues, tables with different columns willbe shown one after the oth

The “Edit” menu has a sub-menu that enables you to select all sources, i.e. all the sourcesexisting in the catalogues planes loaded in the stack. It i

Some examples: Star sources which measures contain the “star” word otype=uv sources which column “otype” has the value “uv” mag*>=12 first colum

Selecting a line of measure with an expression The input box used to select sources is also used to select a specific line of measures.Thus, writin

Add/compute a new columnAladin gives you the possibility to add a new column of values. This operation isdescribed with fu

Tabs and forms can evolve with time and with new possibilities coming in theastronomical community. Each time it s

Giving the targetThe target can be either the identifier of an astronomical object recognized by theSesame process (query in SIMB

Some servers need two steps to load the data: first you need to indicate the region on thesky, then you select among the available images or catalogue

5.2.5The control bandThe server selector shows at its bottom a control band that is common to all forms. Reset: Delete all selection fields in the c

3 Getting startedTo give you a brief overview of Aladin, here's a typical scenario for visualizing imagesand catalogues around an astronomical o

write a file name “.aladin_idha” that will be used to reload this description in a quickmanner for the next time.“All VO” – All the VO in one click! T

“SExtractor “ -The source extraction This form gives access to the “SExtractor” tool (Bertin & Arnouts, 1996 -http://terap

The general form (“All VizieR”) lets you give either the name or the number of thecatalogue directly (CDS/ADC nomenclature) in the specific

"All columns“and "whole catalogue"Some VizieR forms have two check boxes. The first one allows you to download all thecolumns of the co

Furthermore, it is possible to give in the target field, the name of an asteroid or a cometso that SkyBot replaces it by its celestial position on the

The 256 pixel values can be displayedeither with grey levels, in positive ornegative, or with a colour table thatwill make a correspondence betw

the blue. If you move the mouse pointer on the histogram, the pixel values is displayedin abscissa as well as the corresponding red, green and blue va

 Gray: BB: A: Stern: Rainbow: Eosb: Fire:Note: IDL users can also dynamically load a colour table with the IDL-Aladin library(see 7.4).Quick p

specifying explicitly in the control band. If you click on the “use Aladin autocut algorithm”,Aladin will proceed again with its autocut algorithm w

histogram will evolve dynamically respectively to the current image. All adjustingpossibilities of the pixel dynamics are the same

Thus, for loading Simbad data, you have to click on the Simbad tab, and withoutchanging the parameter value in the form fi

Tip: The properties window associated to a contour plane (menu: Edit => Properties) letsyou adjust the levels and colours of each contour afterward

ellipsoidal errors for the location, arrows for which the location and size are relative toproper motion values … Showing a filter in the stack The

 Numerous commented examples that can be the base for your own filters; Buttons giving access to reference columns in the catalogues currently

log( abs(${Fi})/${Fx} ) > 44 { draw } It is mandatory to use quotes (") for strings. Joker keys are allowed ‘ ?’ et ‘*’ ; The “undefined(…)”

Specific functions FILLCIRCLE: filled circle; FIXEDCIRCLE : Circle with a fixed size (not relative to the zoom value in the view); PM: arrow fo

to select a column by a simple click on it in the measure panel. To do so, you need tochoose the sub-menu “Pick…” when you click on “Columns” or “UCD

Filter dedicated to a single specific catalogue plane Some servers offer a list of filters dedicated to their data (Simbad, NED, Skybot…). Theyappear

5.6catalogues cross-match Button cross Menu: catalogue => Cross match objects… Aladin has an integrated cross-match tool for sources. The goal is

Positional cross-matchThe positional cross-match boardlets you give two catalogues, aswell as the correspondinglocations (ra, dec). If

By using the “Advanced options” button located in each of the cross-match forms, it ispossible to explicitly choose the columns to be kept, as well

Measurements and original record access (6)Catalogues or tables may overlaid on images - in this case SIMBADand NOMAD. Each of these objects

Note: Some UCD should not appear more than one time in a table (“meta_main”).Hence, if the correspondence is displayed on a red background, i

Computing expressionTo create a new column, one needs to indicate the computing expression that Aladin willuse to create values for this new column. T

 Finally, Aladin also know how to deal with an astrometrical calibration if the imagewas loaded from a list that is in accordance to the Virtual Obse

Calibration by WCS header The third board displays FITS keywordsgiving the parameters for the calibration inthe WCS standard. If you know

centre (too wide a star), a message will be display to say that the clicked location will betaken as it is.Tips: It can be useful to perform the “sym

catalogue with only XY positionsIf you load a table or catalogue without celestial positions but with two columnsrepresentin

selected planes, Aladin will use them to fill the form, else Aladin will take the 3 imageson top of the stack, or else the 2 first ones. If the image

manipulated like any other image in Aladin. The average will be used for regions thatoverlap.Cube or “animated sequence "A data cube is displayed

Access to the windowThe window controlling the resampling canbe opened with the menu “Image =>Resampling”. You need to sele

ConvolutionFurthermore, the menu “Image => Convolution …” lets you “convolve” the current imagewith a specific array, i.e. to compute a new image a

view => PNG ”for getting an image file of the current view in a format that you will easilyuse in any desktop tools.After this brief Aladin introdu

Generate a “clickable” mapWhen save the Aladin view, the format “PNG+LINK” is offered. This format is dedicatedto the creation of " Web clickable

Interface language managementAladin does support several languages for its graphical interface. It is possible to createyour own translation if the la

scroll through the already submitted commands in order to re-edit them, modify themor execute them again.Tip: Be careful always write after the “Comma

6.2The Macro ControllerMenu : Tools => Macro ControllerTo facilitate repetitive tasks Aladinprovides a macro controller which is basedon A

Configuration of VO ToolsAladin facilitates the use of SAMP with a window that presents a list of applications thatmay be ‘connected interoperably’ wi

The main menu “Interop” allows you to access all SAMP functions, and notably the SAMPoptions. It is also possible to use the contextua

Note : The SAMP actions are dependent on the applications, and it is possible that aselection of an object is simply ignored by a SAMP compatible app

objects in a list. The list may be defined by a selection of objects in a catalogue plane ofthe stack, or as a set of interactively 'tagged'

7 Aladin for expertsIn this section we briefly outline some of the advanced features of Aladin. These include: How to use Aladin in script mode; Ho

The list of Aladin script commandsHelp on the script commands may be obtained via the “Help -> Help on scriptcommands”

Aladin definitions An astronomical image is a rectangular array of values representing a field ofview of the sky. The astronomical image is usually

This method is very practical when the script includes arithmetic operations on imageplanes in the stack (addition, subtraction, multiplication, norma

Using JavaScriptAladin in applet mode may also be controlled via a JavaScript function with thefollowing reference: documen

Writing Aladin plug-insWriting plug-ins requires a reasonable understanding of the Java language. It involvedextending the “AladinPlugin” object class

It is also possible to use the “-outreach” command line parameter, respectively “-preview ” when you start Aladin in a console. In th

GZIP CompressionCan be used with any otherformatsAladin recognizes automatically the data type by analyzing the data content. The filename extension o

 For images having a few hundred megabytes, Aladin will use some space on disk fortemporary full pixel value storage. The impact on the fluidity is

Short keysViewZoom in F8 or mouse wheelZoom out F7 or mouse wheelPan Alt+ZNext image Tab1 view F12 views Maj+F24 views F29 views F316 views F4One view

Table of content1 Introduction

8.1 User profiles ...

Index lexicalAJ...82AJS...82Applet..

 catalogue column generator; catalogue astrometrical calibration (without sky coordinates).Graphical overlays processing functions Contour extracti

properties....14select.....13PNG...

NGC 1313, NGC 1808, NGC 2203, NGC 2359,NGC 2442, NGC 4438, NGC 6070, NGC 253,Orion nebulea, RCW 38, Hercules cluster, M1,M16, M65, M83, M96.Two colour