Astronomical Methods, Prof.

Hugues Sana
Tools & Techniques
3BA Fysica

Assignment 1
A simple optical spectral atlas

Goal: Create an atlas of normalized spectra of 4 supergiants galactic stars with different
main spectral types (O, B, A, F, G, K, and/or M) and present it using a professional layout

Deliverable: a 1- to 2-pages PDF document containing title, author, date, one figure, two
tables, references and legal acknowledgement following the scientific standards that apply in
the field of astronomy and astrophysics.

Tools: Databases: Simbad, ADS & ESO science archive, Python, FV (optional), Overleaf
(optional)

Acquired Skills: Upon completion of this assignment, you should have familiarized yourself
with the SIMBAD, ADS and ESO archives, python and astropy, latex and overleaf and the
FITS data format standard (files and headers). You should be able to read and manipulate
simple astrophysical data using python as well as to create figures, tables, references as well
as an overall document that meets the scientific standards in the field.

STEPS:
- Make an account on the UserPortal at www.eso.org (if required to download the data)
and on Overleaf (optional) at https://www.overleaf.com

- Identify a list of stars of a given main spectral type that are likely to have good optical
spectroscopic observations from the ESO LaSilla-Paranal observatory. Suggestion:
use the SIMBAD data base (http://simbad.u-strasbg.fr/simbad/ ), specifically the
criteria query form and apply a filter a spectral type, declination and magnitudes
http://simbad.u-strasbg.fr/simbad/sim-fsam. Export the list as ascii or cvs and
download it. Clean the file to only keep one column with the objects name if needed.

- Cross Correlate the retrieved list with the list of science products
https://archive.eso.org/scienceportal/home : Setup the selection criteria to select data
with optical spectroscopic data, then upload your target list. Use the selection and
sorting options to narrow down your search to ONE star with a minimum spectral
resolving power of 25000 and a signal-to-noise ratio of 70. Download the
corresponding data.

- Perform a quick visual quality check using e.g., the preview figures, or python to
make sure the data are suitable. If the data are not suitable, choose another star

- Repeat the above until you have data for 4 stars of different main spectral types

- Retrieve information of the chosen stars from the SIMBAD data base: spectral type,
luminosity class, J2000 coordinates and V-band magnitude:

- Retrieve information on the observational data from the FITS headers: telescope,
instrument, spectral resolving power, mean Julian date at the start of the observation,
exposure time and airmass.

- Read the data into python, select the proper wavelength range that you plan to
display and apply a first-order normalization by fitting a polynomial or a spline to the
data.

- Measure the signal-to-noise ratio (S/N) of the spectra in a suitable region of the
wavelength range. State that region in your report and explain how you measured the
S/N
 Astronomical Methods, Prof. Hugues Sana
Tools & Techniques
3BA Fysica

- Create one figure of good science quality displaying the spectra, vertically shifted with
respect to another for clarity and sorted by temperature (coolest at the bottom; hottest
at the top). Make sure the spectral line profiles are clearly visible. Include a
wavelength coverage of at least 300 angstroms. Label each spectrum with the star’s
name and the spectral type. Label the axes and include relevant units. Save the
figure in pdf or png

- Log into overleaf. Create a new project using Astromomy & Astrophysics template
(https://www.aanda.org/for-authors).

- Insert the figure using \includegraphics. Include a caption

- Create 2 tables.

o Table 1 should contain the following columns: object name, spectral type,
luminosity class, J2000 coordinates, V-band magnitude and the reference of
the spectral type. Tip: Use the SIMBAD link to ADS to retrieve the reference
in bibtex format (https://ui.adsabs.harvard.edu)

o Table 2 should contain the following columns: object name, instrument,

spectral resolving power, MJD at mid-exposure, exposure time, signal-to-
noise and airmass (should the table not fit in the page width; you may split it
in 2 tables)

o The tables format should follow the guidelines of the journal Astronomy &
Astrophysics : https://www.aanda.org/for-authors/latex-issues/tables . Latex
examples can be found at : https://www.aanda.org/for-authors/latex-
issues/latex-examples#simples_tables . Do not forget to include units
whenever necessary.

- Make sure the references appear properly!

- Include the required acknowledgement to ESO and CDS

- Save the pdf file and upload it under the assignment page on Toledo. Also upload a
tarball or ZIP file with the fits data files.

Filenames convention:

Give your pdf report file a name with the following structure:

AstroMethods2024_A1_<LastName>-<FirstName>_v<n>.pdf

where <n> is the version number (in case you need to resubmit). Only the last upload
will be graded.

For the fits data, the tarball / zip archive should have the same structure:

AstroMethods2024_A1_<LastName>-<FirstName>_v<n>.tgz
(or .tar, .zip, .bz, etc)