aladin

SYNOPSIS

aladin [options...] [filenames...]

aladin -hipsgen|-mocgen [-h] [options...]

aladin -help|-version

aladin is an interactive sky atlas for viewing astronomical images in the online Virtual Observatory (VO) developed by the Centre de Données astronomiques de Strasbourg (CDS). It is possible to superimpose entries from astronomical catalogues or databases with remotely accessed data fetched on demand.

Aladin can also open and save to a large number of astronomical image formats (FITS, HEALPix, JPEG/GIF/PNG/...); and table formats (FITS, VO-Table, CSV/TSV, S-extractor, IPAC-TBL, Skycat, ASCII, ...).

This manual describes only the command line parameters of aladin. The possibilities of the graphical user interface can be discovered with the Help menu once the program is started.

OPTIONS

-help: show top-level help

-version: display the Aladin release number

-local: skip internet connectivity tests (off-line usage)

-screen=full|cinema|preview|frame: start in full-screen, cinema, preview, or other visual modes.

-script=cmd1;cmd2;...: script commands passed on the command-line

-nogui: script-mode. Does not use graphical user interface. Equivalent to -noplugin -nohub

-[no]hub: disable/enable starting the internal SAMP communcations hub for sharing data with other astronomical applications

-[no]plugin: disable/enable plugin support

Debugging Options

-[no]beta: disable/enable features that currently in beta-test

-[no]proto: disable/enable prototype feature. Useful for testing or when performing demonstrations

-trace: debugging trace mode

-debug: debugging extra verbose mode

HiPS command parameters

The -hipsgen command allows a script-/command-line based Hierarchical Progressive Surveys (HiPS) generation. The options can be given on the command line, or in a config file ( param=configfile). Additional parameters may be retrieved with the command aladin -hipsgen -h.

in=dir|file: Source image directory (FITS or JPEG|PNG +hhh or HiPS) or unique image or HEALPix map file (required parameter)

out=dir: HiPS target directory (default $PWD+"HiPS")

obs_title=name: Name of the survey (by default, input directory name)

creator_did=id: HiPS identifier (syntax: [ivo://]AUTHORITY/internalID)

hips_creator=name: Name of the person or institute who builds the HiPS

hips_status=private|public clonable|clonableOnce|unclonable: HiPS status (default: public clonableOnce)

hdu=n1,n2-n3,...|all: List of HDU numbers (0 is the primary HDU - default is 0)

blank=nn: Specifical BLANK value

skyval=key|auto|%info|%min %max: FITS key to use for removing a sky background, or auto detection or percents of pixel histogram kept (central ex 99, or min max ex 0.3 99.7)

color=jpeg|png: The source images are colored images (jpg or png) and the tiles will be produced in jpeg (resp. png)

shape=ellipse|rectangle: Shape of the observations

border=...: Margins (in pixels) to ignore in the original observations (N W S E or constant)

fov=true|x1,y1..: Observed regions by files.fov or global polygon (in FITS convention).

pilot=nnn: Pilot test limited to the nnn first original images.

verbose=n: Debug information from -1 (nothing) to 4 (a lot)

-live: incremental HiPS (keep weight associated to each HiPS pixel)

-f: clear previous computations

-n: Just print process information, but do not execute it.

MOC command parameters

The -mocgen command generates the MOC (Multi Object Coverage Map) corresponding to a collection of images or WCS headers. A MOC is a a coverage map based on HEALPix sky tesselation.

The supported formats are: FITS files, MEF files, jpeg or png files (WCS header in the comment segment), .hhh file (FITS header files without pixels) and .txt simple ASCII file (FITS header as keyword = value basic ASCII lines).

-v: Verbose mode

-strict: Scan pixel values instead of using WCS image coverage

blank=value: Alternate BLANK value (-strict only)

order=nn: MOC resolution (default 10 => 3.345')

mocfmt=fits|json: MOC output format (default FITS)

previous=moc.fits: Previous MOC (if additions)

hdu=n1,n2-n3|all: List of concerned FITS extensions

-r: Recursive directory scanning

-o: Output MOC updated continuously rather than generated at the end

in=fileOrDir: Directory of images/headers collection

out=outMoc.fits: Output MOC file

-d: Debug trace

DATA FORMATS

Aladin is able to process the following file formats:

images: FITS (gzipped,RICE,MEF,...), HEALPix maps, JPEG,GIF,PNG

tables: FITS, XML/VOTable, CSV, TSV, S-extractor, IPAC-TBL, Skycat or ASCII tables

graphics: Aladin or IDL or DS9 regions, MOCs

directories: HiPS (Hierarchical Progressive Surveys)

Aladin backups: Files with "*.aj" extension

Aladin scripts: Files with "*.ajs" extension

AUTHORS

Aladin was written by Pierre Fernique (Aladin Desktop core base & documentations), Thomas Boch (many advanced Aladin Desktop features), Anaïs Oberto (RGB support, HiPS prototypes), François Bonnarel (Image calibration), and Chaitra (TAP,SIAv2 implementation).

COPYRIGHT

Aladin is free software: you can redistribute it and/or modify it under the terms of the GNU General Public License as published by the Free Software Foundation, version 3 of the License.

If the Aladin Sky Atlas was helpful for your research work, the following citation would be appreciated: This research has made use of "Aladin sky atlas" developed at CDS, Strasbourg Observatory, France. 2000A&AS..143...33B and 2014ASPC..485..277B.

HOMEPAGE

http://aladin.u-strasbg.fr/