Ofer Yaron, Avishay Gal-Yam
We have entered an era of massive data sets in astronomy. In particular, the number of supernova (SN) discoveries and classifications has substantially increased over the years from few tens to thousands per year. It is no longer the case that observations of a few prototypical events encapsulate most spectroscopic information about SNe, motivating the development of modern tools to collect, archive, organize and distribute spectra in general, and SN spectra in particular. For this reason we have developed the Weizmann Institute of Science Experimental Astrophysics Spectroscopy System - WISEASS -- an SQL-based database (DB) with an interactive web-based graphical interface. The system serves as an archive of high quality SN spectra, including both historical (legacy) data as well as data that is accumulated by ongoing modern programs. The archive provides information about objects, their spectra, and related meta-data. Utilizing interactive plots, we provide a graphical interface to visualize data, perform line identification of the major relevant species, determine object redshifts, classify SNe and measure expansion velocities. Guest users may view and download spectra or other data that have been placed in the public domain. Registered users may also view and download data that are proprietary to specific programs with which they are associated. The DB currently holds >7700 spectra, of which >4600 are public; the latter include published spectra from the Palomar Transient Factory (PTF), the Caltech-Core-Collapse Program (CCCP), all of the SUSPECT (SUpernova SPECTrum) archive and the CfA Type Ia SN spectral archive. It offers an efficient and convenient way to archive data and share it with colleagues, and we expect that data stored in this way will be easy to access, increasing its visibility, usefulness and scientific impact.
View original:
http://arxiv.org/abs/1204.1891
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