Skill development

this is just copied from old research tools, needs to be sorted and reorganized and THOROUGHLY updated

How do I download data from Spitzer?

Spitzer has its own archive for downloading and viewing data. Go here for more information.

How do I download data from WISE?

WISE has its own archive for downloading and viewing both images and catalogs. Go here for more information.

How do I download data from IRSA, NED, or the NASA Exoplanet Archive?

This is a very open-ended question! IRSA, NED, and the NASA Exoplanet Archive all serve a lot of different data from a lot of different missions, surveys, and investigations. There's no one answer that will work for everything. Please see What other kinds of archival data are part of NITARP? for a general introduction. Each archive has a search page to start from, and most datasets have lots of online help.

How can I get data from other wavelengths to compare with infrared data from Spitzer?

This link describes getting images and catalogs from other wavelengths. Don't forget the "Questions to think about and things to try" at the bottom of that page.

How can I make a color composite image using Spitzer and/or other data?

Have you ever wondered how scientists create those beautiful images of objects in space? After all when you look at deep space objects through an optical telescope they appear pretty much grey. Well, here's your chance to explore a bit of astronomy art. Not only can you make "pretty pictures" but these composite images can reveal important scientific data. Click on this link and explore how to make 3-color (or more!) composite images with publicly-available tools. Start doing science with the images you create by trying the "Questions to think about and things to try" at the bottom of the linked page.

Photometry

A discussion of what photometry is and why you would want to do it. Includes where to find already-reduced Spitzer photometry. Also see Aperture photometry using APT.

Units

If you've done photometry before and expect to do it the same way here, BE CAREFUL because IT WILL NOT WORK. The units of Spitzer images can be tricky. This page has a lot of information about these units and how to convert them into more familiar units.

Color-Magnitude and Color-Color plots

A general discussion of color-magnitude and color-color plots.

SED plots

A general discussion of spectral energy distribution (SED) plots.

Making a simple mosaic (with Spitzer data and tools)

This page describes how to make a simple mosaic by combining post-BCD mosaics from more than 1 AOR into one large mosaic.

Making Mosaics Using MONTAGE

MONTAGE is a software package that allows you to make mosaics from any set of astronomical images (e.g., not just Spitzer images).

Accessing Kepler and CoRoT data

Kepler and CoRoT data are much more than just exoplanets, but of course they're in here too.

What is a periodogram?

Information on periodograms -- what they are, why you care about them, and how to use the NASA Exoplanet Archive's tool for determining them.

Movie tutorials for Kepler data

These were created by John Blackwell (Exeter) for one of the 2011 NITARP teams. Note that the NASA Exoplanet Archive interface has changed since these were made, but hopefully things are still clear.

• http://youtu.be/3r0ltH9Ixg0 -- searching the Kepler database, obtaining light curves, periodograms, and interpreting the periodograms. (~4 min)
• http://youtu.be/lzrtQSxwajg -- more on Kepler light curves and periodograms, and how to do more sophisticated investigation of the light curves using the NASA Exoplanet Archive tools. (~8 min)

I'm ready to move on to more "advanced" research tools.

Click here after you've worked through the "basic" research tools section, and would like to move on to some more advanced applications.

All the NITARP videos in one place

Just for reference!