CFHT data analysis in a web browser - webtools for the Mauna Kea Scholars program

Heather Flewelling (heather@cfht.hawaii.edu), Mary Beth Laychak, Nadine Manset -- Canada-France-Hawaii Telescope
Best viewed on a laptop / full screen, or download the pdf or png

Abstract

The Mauna Kea Scholars program ( https://maunakeascholars.org, see also Manset's poster: https://www.cfht.hawaii.edu/~manset/UM2022/UM2022-MKS-Manset.html), started in 2015, provides research opportunities for high school students in Hawai'i to use the telescopes on Mauna Kea. These students work with astronomy mentors (mostly graduate students, but also astronomers working with the observatories), to write proposals for telescope time.

Over 100 students have received telescope time since the start of the program. It is a steep learning curve to learn how to analyze astronomical data, often requiring specialized software and a background in programming. These skills are often needed even for very basic tasks such as opening a fits file or viewing a spectra, and can act as a barrier to high school students who have an interest in science but do not yet have the computer background. Another barrier is that many of the students have chromebooks, which makes it impossible to run typical astronomy software. We have created a couple of webtools to make CFHT's data more accessible to high school students. These tools are written in html5 and javascript, and can be easily viewed on chromebooks and mobile devices.

For images, we have a 'colorizer' that allows one to create color images using a preset collection of different fields observed in different filters, for a set of publicly available Pan- STARRS images and CFHT MegaCam images. The mentor can clone the github page and change the images to use the student's telescope images, making this a very simplified way to view FITS files. The student can pan and zoom the images, choose the filters to view, and adjust the intensity, and also create color images.

For students interested in exploring CFHT ESPaDOnS spectra, we have a javascript webtool that allows one to load up to 2 spectra, and to examine (pan, zoom, scale) the spectra. The student can find the min, max for a set range, and overlay known spectral lines for Hydrogen and other elements.

Both of these webtools are written in html5 and javascript, and can be used with any modern browser. These tools work on mobile devices as well as on chromebooks. They are hosted on github to make it easy to clone/modify, and have a GPL3 license. They can be found at https://www.cfht.hawaii.edu/~heather

The MegaCam Colorizer - easily view MegaCam Images

a screenshot of the megacam colorizer program
4 easy steps
  1. Select the set of images
  2. Assign color filters to R/G/B channels
  3. Adjust the intensity of each R/G/B channel
  4. Zoom and pan around to get a nice view
 Features
  • Curated set of images
  • Sensible default image intensities
  • Easy to zoom/pan and return to defaults
  • Easy to save final image as a .png
Gallery of Examples

zoom of ngc6820 zoom of ngc6820 zoom of ngc6820 zoom of ngc6820

For more information on how the MegaCam Colorizer works (under the hood), see the 2021 CASCA Poster

Extra Notes

How to install
  • No need to install anything, just use the github links at the bottom of the poster.
  • GPL3 code - easy to fork and remix
System Requirements (for the user)
  • internet connection, and a web browser
  • works on phones, chromebooks, laptops, anything with a browser!
 Request

Let Heather Flewelling (heather@cfht.hawaii.edu) know what you think!
  • Requests for features
  • If you find a bug
  • If you use it with your students
  • If you have an idea for a tool for your students
The ESPaDOnS Spectrum Viewer - easily check ESPaDOnS Spectra

a screenshot of the espadons spectrum viewer

How to use
  1. Load Spectrum 1 or Spectrum 2 files - choose either a subsample or subset
  2. Use the Plot Adjustment tools to adjust scales, manually set axes, to choose which spectra to display, or to shift the positions of the spectra.
  3. Use the Analysis Tools to add/hide Hydrogen lines, find local min/max, and/or add your own custom lines
  4. Use the interactive plot to zoom/pan or save your plot as an image
Need to convert a .fits file from the CADC to the required .s format? No problem! We have a tool for that: https://www.cfht.hawaii.edu/~heather/espadons/espadonsfileconverter.php
Acknowlegements

Based on observations obtained with MegaPrime/MegaCam, a joint project of CFHT and CEA/DAPNIA, at the Canada-France-Hawaii Telescope (CFHT) which is operated by the National Research Council (NRC) of Canada, the Institut National des Sciences de l'Univers of the Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS) of France, and the University of Hawaii. The observations at the CFHT were performed with care and respect from the summit of Maunakea which is a significant cultural and historic site. This research used the facilities of the Canadian Astronomy Data Centre operated by the National Research Council of Canada with the support of the Canadian Space Agency.
Links to the tools
ESPaDOnS Spectrum Viewer: https://heatherflew.github.io/mks_espadons/espadonsviewer.html Megacam Colorizer: https://heatherflew.github.io/astro_outreach/, Pan-STARRS Colorizer: https://heatherflew.github.io/ps1astroday

Links to the source code
Megacam Colorizer source:https://github.com/heatherflew/astro_outreach,ESPaDOnS Spectrum Viewer source:https://github.com/heatherflew/mks_espadons