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On-the-fly and Grid Analysis of Astronomical Images for the Virtual Observatory
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| We propose to improve upon two existing software packages, XAssist and WESIX. WESIX automatically performs source detection on images that are uploaded by users. XAssist automatically analyzes X-ray astrophysics data, but currently does not have an interface for the Virtual Observatory, and a major goal will be to provide a web service interface to XAssist. The main improvements to XAssist will be added functionality to only analyze a subset of a field (i.e., around the requested position), the capacity to distribute its processing among multiple machines or CPUs, and enhanced speed and reliability. WESIX will be improved to compute calibrated optical fluxes for the detected sources, particularly for Hubble Space Telescope data. The ability to compute upper-limits will be added to both systems, which is particularly important for minimizing bias in statistical studies. We will also work on the production of a common interface to both systems that will allow the processing of optical and X-ray data to be requested in the same way, and allow the software to be used in a grid computing environment. This will set a standard for the inclusion of similar systems for other wavelengths, such as radio and infrared data. This project will improve the utilization of NASA archival data. |
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