Astronomical survey projects

All-sky Low Energy Gamma Ray Observatory ( ALEGRO )

ALLEGRO is a proposed MidEx class instrument providing all-sky monitoring of low-energy gamma-rays at unprecedented sensitivity. Unlike previous hard X-ray experiments, there is no time-averaging, data-selection, or triggering on-board: ALLEGRO transmits all events, time-tagged to 1/8th ms and with full energy information. This produces a database of uniformly high resolution in both energy and time, permitting non-triggered, unbiased detection of transient and pulsed events.

Andromeda Galaxy and Amplified Pixels Experiment ( AGAPE )

AGAPE (Andromeda Galaxy and Amplified Pixels Experiment) is a French collaboration between CNRS (IN2P3 and INSU) and CEA (DSM/DAPNIA) laboratories.
The project is a search for microlensing on unresolved stars of the Andromeda M31 galaxy by MACHOs (baryonic dark matter candidates) of the halo of the Milky Way as well as of the halo of M31.

APM Galaxy Survey

The APM Galaxy Survey contains over 2 million galaxies with Bj < 20.5 in the South Galactic Cap. This page provides a summary of the survey and some pretty pictures.

APS Catalog of POSS I ( Univ. Minnesota )

The APS Catalog of the POSS I contains millions of entries for stars and galaxies, and the corresponding Image Database contains their pixels and more. The data behind the Object Catalog and Image Database are generated from digitized Palomar Observatory Sky Survey plates. Object Catalog entries include calibrated magnitudes in two colors, positions to 0.2 arcseconds, confidence measures on neural network image classifications, colors, and various other useful parameters.

ATNF Parkes 21cm Multibeam Survey

The Parkes 64-m telescope is commencing an HI Southern Sky and Zone of Avoidance survey in 1996. The survey will cover redshifts up to 0.04, and be sensitive to objects with HI mass between 10^6 and 10^10 solar masses, depending on distance. This will be the first extensive "blind" survey of the 21cm extragalactic sky.

Catalog of Infrared Observations ( CIO )

The Catalog of Infrared Observations is a database of over 200,000 published infrared observations of more than 10,000 individual astronomical sources over the wavelength range from 1 to 1000 microns. The catalog is available for downloading via ftp.

Darwin ( Space IR Interferometry Mission )

Darwin is a proposal for a European infrared interferometer in space. Its first aim is to detect Earth-like planets around nearby stars, and then to search for a signature of life, ozone in an atmosphere.

It would also be capable of being used as a general-purpose infrared observatory.

Darwin was proposed to the European Space Agency (ESA) for a Cornerstone Mission in its Horizon 2000 Plus plan. In October 1995, ESA decided to study such an infrared interferometer as an option for its Interferometer Cornerstone. The Darwin and Edison teams have combined to promote the selection by ESA of this option. The Darwin advocacy team members are also members of the International Working Group on Space Interferometry , a pressure group for this type of mission.

Digital Sky Survey ( DSS )

The Digital Sky Survey, consisting of the 1950/55 Palomar Observatory Sky Survey red plates for the northern sky and the SERC Southern Sky Survey (including the SERC J Equatorial Extension and some short V-band plates at low galactic latitude) is available on line. A name resolver is available to find the coordinates of the object of interest. This service is intended to occasional, non-time critical users and for small fields. Depending on the load and the size of the field, the access and response time could be very large.

EROS Experiment

In this (still experimental) server you may find general informations as well as the latest publications/preprints from the EROS collaboration. Our main topic is the search for microlensing amplification of the luminosities of LMC/SMC stars.

Faint Images of the Radio Sky at Twenty-centimeters ( VLA FIRST )

FIRST -- Faint Images of the Radio Sky at Twenty-cm -- is a project designed to produce the radio equivalent of the Palomar Observatory Sky Survey over 10,000 square degrees of the North Galactic Cap. Using the NRAO Very Large Array (VLA) and an automated mapping pipeline, we produce images with 1.8" pixels, a typical rms of 150 Jy, and a resolution of 5" . At the 0.75 mJy source detection threshold, there are ~110 sources per square degree, ~35% of which have resolved structure on scales from 2-30" .

Infrared Sky Survey Atlas ( ISSA )

Innsbruck - Galactic Planetary Nebulae Database

INTEGRAL SCIENCE DATA CENTRE

The INTErnational Gamma-Ray Astrophysics Laboratory (INTEGRAL) is a medium size mission of the European Space Agency dedicated to gamma-ray astronomy. The INTEGRAL Science Data Center (ISDC) located in Geneva is the link between the astronomical community at large and the INTEGRAL spacecraft.

International Meteor Organization ( IMO )

The International Meteor Organization (IMO) was founded in 1988 and has more than 250 members now. IMO was created in response to an ever growing need for international cooperation of meteor amateur work. The collection of meteor observations by several methods from all around the world ensures the comprehensive study of meteor showers and their relation to comets and interplanetary dust.

IRAS PSC Redshift Survey

The IRAS Point Source Catalog redshift survey is a survey of (almost) all of the 15,000 galaxies brighter than 0.6 Jansky at 60 microns, over 83% of the whole sky. The survey is virtually complete as of Jan 1995, and results on large-scale structure should appear in the next few months.

Münster ESO Red Sky Survey

Münster Redshift Project

MPIfR - Bonn 100-m Telescope Surveys

Multiwavelength Atlas of Galaxies

A Multiwavelength Atlas of Galaxies is presented as an educational tool for high school students. Optical, X-ray, Far-Infrared and Radio images are shown for a variety of nearby galaxies. Text describing the physical mechanisms of the different types of radiation, and their astronomical sources is supplied.

NRAO VLA Sky Survey ( NVSS )

The NRAO VLA Sky Survey (NVSS) is mapping the sky north of -40 deg declination at 1.4 GHz. The principal data products are (1) 4 deg X 4 deg continuum maps " cubes" with three planes containing Stokes I, Q, and U images, (2) source lists, and (3) processed (u,v) data sets. The maps have 45 arcsec FWHM resolution and nearly uniform rms noise, about 0.45 mJy/beam = 0.14 K (Stokes I) and 0.29 mJy/beam (Stokes Q and U). The rms uncertainties in right ascension and declination vary from 0.3 arcsec for strong (S > 30 mJy) point sources to 5 arcsec for the faintest (S ~ 2.5 mJy) detectable sources.

Postage Stamp Server for NVSS Radio Sky Survey ( NVSS Postage Stamp Server )

This Web page allows the user to obtain "postage stamp" FITS images of selected, small fields from the NRAO/VLA Sky Survey (NVSS). Either 1950 or 2000 positions are supported as are a number of projective geometries. This survey is being done with the National Radio Astronomy Observatory's Very Large Array telescope at a wavelength of 20 cm (1.4 GHz) and is producing images of the sky north of declination -40 deg with a resolution of 45". Both total intensity and linear polarization is being imaged. This project began in September 1993 and the main body of observations will be finished in the Summer of 1996. Results are being made available as they are produced.

Probing Lensing Anomalies NETwork ( PLANET )

The PLANET collaboration is a worldwide network of astronomers with access to Dutch, South African, and Australian telescopes. The primary goal of PLANET is the study of microlensing anomalies (departures from an achromatic point-source, point-lens light curve) through multi-band, rapidly-sampled photometry. An ultimate goal is to place constraints on the number and distribution of planets around other stars.

Radio Surveys of the Southern and Northern Sky

This page attempts to list some of the survey work at radio wavelengths in both the southern and northern hemispheres. Links to the data from these surveys are included, where available.

ROSAT Public Data Archive

Data archive of the X-ray satellite ROSAT

SDSS Science Archive ( JHU/SDSS )

The Sloan Digital Sky Survey is a project to survey a 10000 square degree area on the Northern sky over a 5 year period. A dedicated 2.5m telescope is specially designed to take wide field (3x3 degree) images using a 5x6 mosaic of 2048x2048 CCD's, in five wavelength bands, operating in scanning mode. The total raw data will exceed 40 TB. A processed subset, of about 1 TB in size, will consist of 1 million spectra, positions and image parameters for over 100 million objects, plus a mini-image centered on each object in every color. The data will be made available to the public after the completion of the survey.

SERENDIP

The UC Berkeley SETI Program, SERENDIP (Search for Extraterrestrial Radio Emissions from Nearby Developed Intelligent Populations) is an ongoing scientific research effort aimed at detecting radio signals from extraterrestrial civilizations. The project is the world's only " piggyback" SETI system, operating alongside simultaneously conducted conventional radio astronomy observations. SERENDIP is currently piggybacking on the 1,000-foot dish at Arecibo Observatory in Puerto Rico, the largest radio telescope in the world.

SETI Institute Home Page ( SETI )

The SETI Institute (the Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence) serves as an institutional home for scientific and educational projects relevant to the nature, distribution, and prevalence of life in the universe. The largest research effort is Project Phoenix, the privately-funded continuation of the Targeted Search portion of NASA's High Resolution Microwave Survey. Two other projects of interest are the Life in the Universe (LITU) Curriculum Project and the Flight Opportunities for Science Teacher EnRichment (FOSTER) Project. LITU develops supplementary science curriculum material for grades 3 through 9. FOSTER allows science teachers to experience the excitement of research on NASA's Kuiper Airborne Observatory (KAO).

SETIQuest

SETIQuest®, The Magazine of SETI and Bioastronomy, provides both professional and amateur astronomers with information concerning SETI (Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence) and bioastronomy. Updates are published on optical and microwave- based SETI research, conferences, papers, and activities, such as Project Phoenix and SERENDIP (Search for Extraterrestrial Radio Emissions from Nearby Developed Intelligent Populations).

SkyView

SkyView is a facility available over the net which allows users to retrieve data from public all-sky surveys conveniently. The user enters the position and size of the region desired, and the surveys wanted and the data is extracted and formatted for the user. Documentation available here .

Sloan Digital Sky Survey ( SDSS at Fermilab )

(1) In the pi steradians of the available North Galactic Pole (b > 30 degrees), we shall conduct surveys in the following manner: Obtain a photometric survey, in four or five filters to 23rd magnitude (R), 5 sigma, for stellar objects; obtain redshifts for all galaxies down to 19th magnitude (B); obtain redshifts for all QSOs down to 20th magnitude (B). (2) In the available South Galactic Pole region there will be a deeper survey in a strip 2 degrees (dec) by 50 degrees, in order to: obtain a photometric survey, in four or five filters to 25th magnitude (R), 5 sigma, for stellar objects; obtain redshifts for all galaxies down to 20th magnitude (B); obtain redshifts for all QSOs down to 21st magnitude (B). (3) In the additional available sky covering the Galactic disk, a deep photometric survey will be conducted on a best effort basis to 23rd magnitude (R), 5 sigma.

Space Telescope Science Institute ( STScI )

STScI is responsible for the scientific operations of the Hubble Space Telescope (HST). STScI is operated by Associated Universities for Research in Astronomy (AURA) under contract to NASA.

The 2dF Galaxy Redshift Survey ( 2dF )

THE AMATEUR SKY SURVEY

This project, aka TASS, hopes to construct low-cost drift-scan cameras and distribute them to sites around the world. The goal is to monitor the sky down to fourteenth-sixteenth magnitude and study variable stars, asteroids and comets.

The Las Campanas Redshift Survey/European Mirror Site ( LCRS European Mirror )

Las Campanas Redshift Survey data and publications. Mirror of http://manaslu.astro.utoronto.ca/~lin/lcrs.html.

The Las Campanas Redshift Survey ( LCRS )

Las Campanas Redshift Survey data and publications

The MACHO project

The MACHO project is searching for dark matter in the form of Massive Compact Halo Objects (MACHOs) using gravitational microlensing. We search for these events by monitoring over 10 million stars every night in the LMC and Galactic bulge, using the dedicated 50-inch telescope at Mt. Stromlo.

Two Color (U,B) Survey of Galactic Plane ( Lanning UV Survey )

In 1969, a two-color survey of the galactic plane was begun using the Palomar 48-in Oschin Schmidt telescope under the direction of Allan Sandage. The intent of the survey was to support the Uhuru X-ray satellite (launched in 1972) in an effort to identify the optical counterparts of newly detected x-ray sources. Each plate was exposed through the Blue (GG13) and UV (UG1) filters with images offset by 12 arcsec. The exposure times were selected such that the U-B color was balanced at U-B=0 for equal sized images. The hotter the star, the bluer (larger) the UV image.

Two Micron All-Sky Survey ( 2MASS )

Infrared detector technology has made such huge advances in the past decade that the only existing near-infrared sky survey, which was carried out at Caltech nearly 25 years ago, no longer serves as a useful context within which to interpret observations or select sources for study. The University of Massachusetts is therefore leading a new project, called the Two Micron All Sky Survey (2MASS), which will canvas the entire sky for stars and galaxies as much as 50,000 times fainter than the stars seen in the last survey.

UK Schmidt Telescope ( UKST )

The initial task of the UKST was to construct a photographic survey of the entire southern sky. The telescope still takes some 700 plates a year - about half for current surveys and the remainder taken at the request of research astronomers around the world. To date the UKST has taken over 17,000 plates, the plates are stored in the Plate Library at the Royal Observatory, Edinburgh (ROE) and represent a huge source of data for the astronomical community. Some 300 active research programmes make use of UKST plate material. Many plates are copied in the ROE Photolabs and sold as Sky Atlases or Teaching Packages. In addition to its photographic role the UKST also has a multi-object fibre spectroscopy system known as FLAIR. e-mail ukstu@roe.ac.uk

Wisconsin H-Alpha Mapper ( WHAM )

The Wisconsin H-Alpha Mapper will produce a survey of H-Alpha emission from the interstellar medium (ISM) over the entire northern sky. The instrument combines a 24-inch telescope and a high-resolution, 6-inch Fabry-Perot spectrometer to achieve 8-12 km/s velocity resolution in one-degree beams on the sky. By utilizing CCD technology, we hope to attain a sensitivity level of 0.01 Rayleighs. This survey, the first of ionized hydrogen in our galaxy, will be used to explore the spatial and kinematic structure of the warm ionized component of the ISM. WHAM is currently at Pine Bluff Observatory but will move to Kitt Peak, Arizona in the Fall of 1996 for the survey, which should take about 2 years.

XMM Survey Science Centre ( XMM SSC )

The XMM Survey Science Centre (SSC) has responsibilities within the XMM project in three main areas:

• the follow-up/identification programme for the XMM serendipitous X-ray sky survey
• the development of science analysis software for XMM
• the "pipe-line processing" of all XMM observations.