Synopsis
asciitocomponentlist(filename, asciifile, refer, format, direction, spectrum, flux, log)
Description
This constructor allows conversion of a number of ascii-file-based
formats to componentlists. The formats currently supported are the
AIPS star file format, the Caltech model format, and the WENSS, FIRST,
and NVSS surveys.
- AIPS ST file
- The AIPS star file describes positions of ``stars''
that one might wish to plot overlaid on some other display. It does
not contain source strength information. In the AIPS help file for
STARS, the format of the star file is described as follows:
The text file contains one line per star and each line has
up to 7 logical columns containing, in order:
1. X position (Right Ascension 00 00 00.00)
2. Y position (Declination +/-00 00 00.0)
3. Major axis (Full width in arc seconds on sky)
4. Minor axis (Full width in arc seconds on sky)
5. Position Angle (E of N, degrees)
6. Star Type (-1 to 20, integer )
7. Star label (up to 24 character string)
If X and Y are not RA-DEC or DEC-RA, then the logical columns
are also 7 actual columns and the units are in AIPS standard
units (e.g. degrees, m/s etc. ). In this case the position
angle should be given as 0.0, the major axis is the width in the
Y coordinate and the minor axis is the width in the X
coordinate. For RA and DEC positions, the sexagesimal notation
is used (e.g. HH MM SS.SSS -DD MM SS.S) for the positions and
arc seconds on the sky are used for the Deltas.
The last 5 columns are not required. If the last 5 columns are
not given, a value of 1 cell is assumed for the deltas.
If the position angle is not included, the default is 0 degrees.
If the star type is not included, the default type is a cross.
The default is no label string.
There are currently 22 different types of star marks.
< 0: No Mark, only the star label is printed
0: Cross 10: Five pointed star
1: Ellipse 11: Star of David
2: Box 12: Seven pointed star
3: Triangle 13: Eight pointed star
4: Diamond 14: Nine pointed star
5: Pentagon 15: Ten pointed star
6: Hexagon 16: 11 pointed star
7: Septagon 17: 12 pointed star
8: Octagon 18: 13 pointed star
9: Nine-gon 19: 14 pointed star
20: Cross with gap >20: Ellipse
The Box (type=2) is different from the diamond in that the
star size is the half height and width of the box dimensions.
The Box and the Null (<0) are labeled at RA and Dec plus Delta
RA and Delta Dec. The other marks are labeled at the right
edge of the of the Rotated RA axis. The CROSS WITH GAP
(type=20) has the inner third of the cross removed so the
marked object is not over written.
For more information, see the AIPS help file for
STARS.
Caveats:
- In AIPS, the following are supported: 1: 1900; 2: B1950; 3: J2000; 4: Galactic
5: OHLSSON Gal.; 6: VAN TULDER Galactic; 7: Super Galactic; if > 1000 then year assumed.
Currently, AIPS++ can support 2 (refer='b1950'), 3
(refer='j2000'), 4 (refer='gal'), 7 (refer='supergal'). If you
need any of the others, please contact us.
- Caltech
- The
jp/citvlb/index.html">Caltech package
uses a format for specifying positions relative to an undefined
position. In the documentation for modelfit, the format is
described as follows:
Model files are text files that can be typed or printed directly;
they can be modified or created using the standard text editors. A
model file consists of one line for each component of the model, with
up to 7 numbers on each line (in free format):
1. Component flux density (Jy)
2. Distance of center of component from origin (milliarcsec),
"radius"
3. Position angle of center of component with respect to the
origin (degrees, North through East), "theta"
4. Major axis of component (milliarcsec), "axis"
5. Axial ratio (minor/major, i.e. < 1), "ratio"
6. Position angle of major axis (degrees, North through East),
"phi"
7. Type:
0 or 1: elliptical Gaussian (major axis is FWHM) or
delta-function (major axis = 0)
2: uniform elliptical disk (major axis is diameter)
3: optically thin spheroid or tapered disk (major axis
is diameter)
4: elliptical ring (major axis is diameter)
5: line (major axis is length)
For Gaussians and delta-functions, the Type can be omitted; for
delta-functions, the major-axis, axial-ratio, position- angle and type
can be omitted. (Not all the programs understand types 2-5.) The
"origin" is an arbitrary phase-reference point. The maximum number of
components varies from 600 to 10000, depending on the individual
program.
Caveats:
- In AIPS++, directions in componentlist are currently absolute
only. Hence one must specify the reference direction.
- WENSS
- The Westerbork Northern Sky Survey (WENSS)
is a
low-frequency radio survey that covers the whole sky north of delta=30
degree at a wavelength of 92cm to a limiting flux density of
approximately 18 mJy (5 sigma). This survey has a resolution of 54'' x
54'' cosec (delta) and a positional accuracy for strong sources of
1.5''. The WSRT Northern Sky Survey catalog is available via a
Web
interface.
Use this interface to search for sources, choose the plain text
output, capture the output into a file and then convert.
- 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 and South Galactic Caps. Using
the NRAO Very Large Array (VLA) and an automated mapping pipeline,
they produce images with 1.8" pixels, a typical rms of 0.15 mJy, and a
resolution of 5". At the 1 mJy source detection threshold, there are
90 sources per square degree, 35% of which have resolved structure
on scales from 2-30". Go to the FIRST catalog search
page, search for the
sources that you want, cut out only the lines that include the
sources, put in a file and then convert.
- NVSS
- The NRAO VLA Sky Survey
The NRAO VLA Sky Survey
(NVSS) is a radio continuum survey covering the sky north of -40 deg
declination. A detailed description appears in the 1998 May issue of
The Astronomical Journal (Condon, J. J., Cotton, W. D., Greisen,
E. W., Yin, Q. F., Perley, R. A., Taylor, G. B., & Broderick,
J. J. 1998, AJ, 115, 1693). Go to the NVSS catalog
search page, search for the
sources that you want, cut out only the lines that include the sources
(you can leave in the alternating lines with error information), put
in a file and then convert.
Caveats:
- The catalog contains upper limits on some scale sizes. We
have chosen to represent these as actual sizes.
Arguments
|
filename |
|
Name of output component list table |
|
|
Allowed: |
String |
|
|
Default: |
None |
|
asciifile |
|
Name of input ascii file |
|
|
Allowed: |
String |
|
|
Default: |
None |
|
refer |
|
Input reference frame |
|
|
Allowed: |
Any valid direction reference frame |
|
|
Default: |
J2000 |
|
format |
|
Name of format (only ST supported) |
|
|
Allowed: |
String |
|
|
Default: |
ST |
|
direction |
|
Direction measure (for relative coordinates) |
|
|
Allowed: |
Direction measure |
|
|
Default: |
None |
|
spectrum |
|
Default spectrum field |
|
|
Allowed: |
Any valid spectrum field |
|
|
Default: |
[type="Constant", frequency=[type="frequency" , refer="LSR" , m0=[unit="GHz" , value=1.0]] |
|
flux |
|
Default flux field |
|
|
Allowed: |
Any valid flux field |
|
|
Default: |
[value=[0.0, 0.0, 0.0, 0.0], unit='Jy', polarization="Stokes"] |
|
log |
|
Send a message to the logger |
|
|
Allowed: |
Boolean |
|
|
Default: |
T |
Returns
Number of components found
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