IUELOG - IUE (International Ultraviolet Explorer) Final Merged Observation Log

Overview

This IUE (International Ultraviolet Explorer) Observation Log contains a summary of all IUE Newly Extracted Spectra (INES), which resulted from a post-processing effort at VILSPA. It was constructed by using verified data from the IUE Final Archive Master Catalog. The observations cover the whole life of the IUE satellite, from March 1978 to September 1996.

Catalog Bibcode

References

Final Merged Log of IUE Observations
     NASA / ESA / SERC
    <IUE Newsletters (1978-2000)>

Provenance

This online catalog was ingested by the HEASARC in August 2004 based on the machine-readable table VI/110/inescat.dat obtained from the CDS data center. In May 2020, the program_id values of "\" were changed by the HEASARC to nulls for improved database compatibility.

Parameters

Camera
The name of the IUE Camera used for the observation:

       LWP  = Long Wavelength Prime Camera        (Camera no.1)
       LWR  = Long Wavelength Redundant Camera    (Camera no.2)
       SWP  = Short Wavelength Prime Camera       (Camera no.3)
       SWR  = Short Wavelength Redundant Camera   (Camera no.4)

Image
The IUE Image Number of the observation. Together with the camera used, this usually is enough to uniquely specify an observation: in a small number of cases, where both large and small apertures were used, this latter parameter value is required in addition to provide a unique specification.

Dispersion
The dispersion mode of the observation, where H stands for High, L for Low, and N for "Not Applicable".

Aperture
The aperture used for the observation, where L stands for the Large (10 by 20 arcsecond oval) aperture, S for the Small (3 arcsecond circular) aperture, and N for "Not Applicable".

Time
The date and time of the start of the observation in UT.

Exposure_Mode
The exposure mode of the observation, consisting of 3 characters with the following meaning:

         First Character (multiple exposures in the large aperture):

         N  No multiple exposures made (most common case)
         A  Multiple exposures along the APERTURE
         X  X-offsets along FES X-axis for multiple exposures
         Y  Y-offsets along FES X-axis for multiple exposures
         O  Other configuration for multiple exposures

        Middle character (segmented exposure)

         N  No, exposure taken by one commanded exposure (most common case)
         Y  Yes, exposure was segmented

        Last character (trailed exposure)

         N  No trail (most common case)
         X  Exposure trailed along FES X-axis
         Y  Exposure trailed along FES Y-axis

Extraction_Mode
The extraction mode for the observation, where P stands for Point, E for Extended source extraction.

Exposure
The effective exposure time, in seconds

Julian_Date
The heliocentric-corrected Julian Date corresponding to the mid-exposure of the observation.

Name
The Homogeneous Object Identifier of the target: this is essentially the IUE-standard name of the object, based on a prioritized set of catalogs, e.g., for a star, if it is in the Henry Draper (HD) Catalog, it will be the HD name.

RA
The Right Ascension of the IUE pointing for the observation in the specified equinox. Together with the Dec parameter, these two parameters comprise the homogeneous IUE coordinates for the observation. Particularly for extended objects, the homogeneous coordinates may differ from the targets as given by the IUE Guest Observer (GO) (which are contained in the ra_target and dec_target parameters). In the originating table, the RA parameter was given in J2000 equinox decimal degrees and with a precision of 0.0001 degrees.

Dec
The Declination of the IUE pointing for the observation in the specified equinox. Together with the RA parameter, these two parameters comprise the homogeneous IUE coordinates for the observation. Particularly for extended objects, the homogeneous coordinates may differ from the targets as given by the IUE Guest Observer (GO) (which are contained in the ra_target and dec_target parameters). In the originating table, the Dec parameter was given in J2000 equinox decimal degrees and with a precision of 0.0001 degrees.

LII
The Galactic Longitude of the IUE pointing for the observation.

BII
The Galactic Latitude of the IUE pointing for the observation.

Aperture_PA
The Position Angle of the Large Aperture for the observation, in degrees.

FES_Mode
The Fine Error Sensor (FES) mode (this is needed to convert FES counts into a visual magnitude):

         FU = Fast track/Underlap
         FO = Fast track/Overlap
         SO = Slow track/Overlap
         SU = Slow track/Underlap (HEASARC guess)
         BO = ?                   (not mentioned in CDS documentation)

FES_Counts
The Fine Error Sensor (FES) counts of the target (contaminated after Nov. 1991): this can be used together with the FES mode to estimate the visual magnitude of the target. The FES counts are photon counts averaged over an integration time that is dependent on the needs of the specific target acquisition. Notice that the FES detector saturates at a count level of 28673!

Alt_Name
The target name as given by the Guest Observer (GO).

RA_Target
The Right Ascension (J2000) of the target as given by GO, which may differ from the homogeneous IUE coordinates, e.g. for extended objects.

Dec_Target
The Declination (J2000) of the target as given by GO, which may differ from the homogeneous IUE coordinates, e.g. for extended objects.

IUE_Class
The IUE Object Class, according to the following schema:

    00   Sun                            50   R, N or S types
    01   Earth                          51   Long Period Variable Stars
    02   Moon                           52   Irregular Variables
    03   Planet                         53   Regular Variables
    04   Planetary satellite            54   Dwarf Novae
    05   Minor Planet                   55   Classical Novae
    06   Comet                          56   Supernovae
    07   Interplanetary medium          57   Symbiotic Stars
    08   Giant Red Spot                 58   T Tauri
                                        59   X-Ray Source
    10   WC                             60   Shell Star
    11   WN                             61   Eta Carinae
    12   Main Sequence O                62   Pulsar
    13   Supergiant O                   63   Nova-like
    14   Oe                             64   Other stellar Object
    15   Of                             65   Misidentified targets
    16   sdO                            66   Interacting Binaries
    17   WD O
    19   UV-strong                      69   Herbig-Haro Object
    20   B0-B2 V-IV                     70   Planetary Nebula + Central Star
    21   B3-B5 V-IV                     71   Planetary Nebula - Central Star
    22   B6-B9,5 V-IV                   72   H II Region
    23   B0-B2 III-I                    73   Reflection Nebula
    24   B3-B5 III-I                    74   Dark Cloud (absorption spectrum)
    25   B6-B9.5 III-I                  75   Supernova Remnant
    26   Be                             76   Ring Nebula (shock-ionised)
    27   Bp
    28   sdB
    29   WDB
    30   A0-A3 V-IV                     80   Spiral Galaxy
    31   A4-A9 V-IV                     81   Elliptical Galaxy
    32   A0-A3 III-I                    82   Irregular Galaxy
    33   A4-A9 III-I                    83   Globular Cluster
    34   Ae                             84   Seyfert Galaxy
    35   Am                             85   Quasar
    36   Ap                             86   Radio Galaxy
    37   WDA                            87   BL Lacertae object
    38   Horizontal Branch              88   Emission Line Galaxy (non-Seyfert)
    39   Composite
    40   F0-F2                          90   Intergalactic Medium
    41   F3-F9
    42   Fp
    43   Late Type Degenerate Stars
    44   G IV-VI
    45   G I-III
    46   K IV-VI
    47   K I-III
    48   M Dwarfs                       98   Wavelength Calibration Lamp
    49   M I-III                        99   Nulls and Flat Fields

There is also one object in this catalog with an iue_class of 67 which appears to be a Herbig-Haro Object, and two objects with iue_class values of 95, the meaning of which is not stated in the CDS documentation.

Exposure_Code
The IUE Exposure Classification Code, made up of 3 characters with meaning according to the following scheme:

        Left Character (exposure levels of continuum)
        Middle Character (exposure levels of emission line)
        both are coded as following:

         0 = Not applicable
         1 = No spectrum visible
         2 = Faint spectrum: max dn <  20 above local background
         3 = Underexposed:   max dn < 100 above local background
         4 = Weak:     100 < max dn < 150 above local background
         5 = Good: no sat.,  max dn > 150 above local background
         6 = a bit strong: a few pixels are saturated
         7 = saturated for less than half the spectrum
         8 = mostly saturated but some parts usable
         9 = completely saturated

        Right  Character (background level).
        This is classified in terms of a standard region of each camera
        outside the area affected by the high resolution orders.
        The value used is the mean dn given by a subset histogram
        approximately 10 pixels in width:

         0 =   0 < dn <  20
         1 =  21 < dn <  30
         2 =  31 < dn <  40
         3 =  41 < dn <  50
         4 =  51 < dn <  60
         5 =  61 < dn <  70
         6 =  71 < dn <  80
         7 =  81 < dn <  90
         8 =  91 < dn < 100
         9 = 101 < dn < ...
         X = saturated

Notice: In the CDS documentation, the meaning of both the first and second characters of this parameter was stated to be the coded exposure level of the continuum: it appears to the HEASARC that this is a typographical error and that the second character refers to the exposure level of (usually the strongest intrinsic) emission line in the spectrum. Also, "dn" is the IUE data number, which has 256 possible values from 0 to 255.

Program_ID
The identification code for the IUE Observing Program under which the target was observed.

Observing_Station
The observing station for the observation, where G means Goddard Space Flight Center (GSFC) and V stands for the European VILSPA station.

Abnormality_Codes
The Abnormality Codes for the observation, according to the following scheme:

         A = Abnormal READ (ABNREAD)
         B = BAD Scans LWP (ABNBADSC)
         C = CORRUPTION including 159 DN
         H = History Play back (ABNHISTR)
         M = Missing THDA, any of THDAEND, THDAREAD, or THDASTRT
         N = Non-standard image acquisition ABNNOSTD
         O = OFFSET from nucleus; from center; etc.
         P = Readmode = PARTIAL
         R = REMNANT of previous spectrum visible
         S = Serendipity Exposure
         T = TRACK LOST
         U = UVC voltage other than -5Kev
         W = ABNHTRWU = LWR Heater Warm Up
         Z = contamination by solar spectrum or extended source
         8 = Cross-correlation less than 80% - CC-PERCN

Class
The HEASARC Browse object classification, constructed from the IUE_class parameter. Notice that the correspondence between these tow classification schemes is only approximate, and that the IUE_class is probably more accurate.

Contact Person

Questions regarding the IUELOG database table can be addressed to the HEASARC Help Desk.

Page Author: Browse Software Development Team
Last Modified: Monday, 16-Sep-2024 17:29:41 EDT