“I’ve tried using the new archive for some PI data and I just wanted to
let you know how impressed I am with how it works. The interface is easy to
use and intuitive.” — Tom Matheson, US NGO
Mixing this with Cloud computing gives us a
huge range of scalability options; for example,
if a new (or existing) Gemini partner country
or institution found that their internet connection to the current archive server isn’t so great,
we could deploy an extra server, either within
the Amazon Cloud at a data center located
closer to them, or even potentially on a server
located within an astronomical institution.
Keeping It Simple
In developing the GOA archive web interface, we wanted to keep things as simple,
yet as powerful, as possible. There is only
one search form for the archive; it provides a
single and clear starting point for any archive
search — whether it’s a Principal Investigator (PI) looking for data from his or her own
observing program or someone interested
in searching for public data on an object.
Searches by a variety of parameters (such as
instrument, observing date, and observing
modes) are provided, along with instrumentspecific details and, of course, target names
and sky positions.
GOA was by definition a lean project; the driver was cost savings, and this meant limited
functionality. While we deliberately decided
to make it a simpler system than the previous
Gemini Science Archive, we would also maintain the functionality that had proved most
beneficial over the years. The only example of
lost functionality that users have commented
on is that the archive no longer provides details of proposal abstracts in the database, and
searching by PI name is not possible. We’re
keeping a list of ideas and feature requests to
consider for future upgrades.
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GeminiFocus
Bookmarkable Searches
Another particularly useful feature of GOA
is its ability to bookmark searches. When
you enter a field in the search form and click
“search,” your browser is directed to a URL
that represents that search. This allows you to
bookmark the page, copy and paste the URL
from your browser, save the URL in your notes,
email it to a Co-Investigator, or whatever you
like. And if you visit that URL in the future, that
search is preserved and will find all the data
from that program; if any new data has been
added since you saved the URL, you’ll see the
new results too.
Low Latency
Some time ago, we started “remote eavesdropping,” whereby PIs could connect to the
Gemini control room while their observations
were being made. This allows users to interact with the queue observing team and provide feedback on the data as it comes in. With
Base Facility Operations already happening at
Gemini North, we might look to a future that
also includes Remote Observations — GOA is
already prepared for this, as we designed the
new archive to make data available promptly. Data typically are available to download
within a minute or so of completing a readout. At the moment, Gemini North data are
slightly quicker (often as fast as 20 seconds)
due to the better Internet connection to Maunakea. However, as the Large Synoptic Survey
Telescope begins laying fiber optics to Cerro
Pachón, we anticipate Gemini South data to
fall into the same regime.
Paul Hirst is a staff scientist at Gemini Observatory and can be reached at: [email protected]
2015 Year in Review
January 2016