Discovery (AT) & Classification Reports
What to do if I don’t find the required values in the pop-down lists for Units/Filter/Instruments (and also instruments in the classification report form)?
Select ‘Other’ from the pop-down list, and specify the relevant details in the following Comments field. These comments will then appear also in the Discovery/Classification certificate.
e.g. Telescope/Instrument= C14 35cm f/6 + SXVF-H9 camera
If introducing a new survey/facility that will report regularly to the TNS, please contact the administrators and ask that the new telescope/intrument/filters etc… be added. Provide the details as they appear on the AUX tables on WISeREP:
https://www.wiserep.org/aux/telescopes
https://www.wiserep.org/aux/instruments
https://www.wiserep.org/aux/filters
If submitting a PUBLIC AT or Classification report (without specifying a proprietary period), is there a need to associate with group/s?
It is possible to specify associated groups but there’s hardly any meaning to this.
Association with group/s should be done when wanting to share private (proprietary) data with only the members of the specified group/s.
How to provide follow-up observations (photometry/spectroscopy)?
Providing follow-up observations, whether photometry or spectroscopy, is less relevant to the scope of the TNS. However, a possible way to add photometry is by issuing an additional AT report for the same coordinates (object). The report will then be associated with the same (existing) object, and the photometry entries will also be added for the object (associated with the new AT-report, but this doesn't matter). In the Object page all provided photometry (light curves) will be listed and displayed.
For follow-up spectroscopy (after having on the TNS the required spectra which go along the "classification" report), the most natural place is to upload to WISeREP: https://www.wiserep.org
(In principal, objects that are classified as a SN on the TNS are automatically ingested to WISeREP, so that there, additional spectroscopy (and also photometry can be provided.
What to do if I forgot to add a “related file” (e.g. image, finding chart etc…) for the AT report?
On the search page, click to open the AT Reports table, and under the related files column there’s a link ‘Add’ to upload additional file/s, associated with the AT report. Only the user who issued the report or either members of the relevant group/s (source/associated) can add files to their report.
How are the surveys’ astrometric accuracies handled and taken into account?
Please check the explanations in these AstroNotes:
https://www.wis-tns.org/astronotes/astronote/2019-15
https://www.wis-tns.org/astronotes/astronote/2019-37 And the current values of the applied astrometric accuracies listed here:
https://www.wis-tns.org/astronotes/astronote/2019-60 and on the Groups page (sort by the Astrometric Accuracy ASC).
Registration/Account settings
Bulk download of spectra from the TNS; how to download all the available spectra for classified SNe?
Several possible options:
- Use the Search page form to download the list of all classified SNe. So, in a scripted way, go over all pages (page=0..N) with URLs such as:
https://www.wis-tns.org/search?&classified_sne=1&num_page=100&format=cs…;(You can check the Quick query links on the help page and there's a sample code we provide for doing this - this python Sample code )
- Alternatively, and better in terms of the load on the system, download the staged csv that contains all TNS objects, and relate to those that are "SN". Check here: Daily CSV staging
- Then go over all object names/ids and use the Get Object api to get the spectra:
{
"objname": "",
"objid": "",
"photometry": "0",
"spectra": "1"
}- Another option is to use WISeREP (all the TNS classification spectra are automatically ingested into WISeREP).
Query on the Spectra search page by "created by = TNS_Bot1", and you can download in a scripted way for page=0..N, using e.g. such URLs:
https://www.wiserep.org/search/spectra?&creation_modifier=TNS_Bot1&format=csv&files_type=ascii&num_page=100&page=0This will download a zipped folder that contains both the ascii files and the metadata list.
You can also check the details and the sample code provided here: Downloads
How to retrieve/download search results?
Please have a look on the help page, there are several solutions you can follow.
First, there's a downloadable csv, updated daily, that contains the basic details of all public TNS objects.
Have a look here: Daily CSV stagingSecond, it is possible to download the search results (with a max of 100 entries per page) in a convenient way, by appending: &num_page=100&format=csv&page=0 (where &page goes from 0 to N according to the retrieved no of pages.)
Have a look here: Quick query links
where we also provide a sample code.
Groups/Bots
Why define a group (or become a member of a group)?
The main reasons for creating a group are twofold:
1. If wanting to report on behalf of a group (as opposed to an individual discoverer); then the "source group" hould be specified in the AT/Classification forms.
2. If willing (now or in the future) to submit proprietary data (discovery reports, classification reports/spectra…), which should be visible and accessible to only the group members (the specified “source group” or “associated group/s”).
What is the reason for specifying Associated Group/s for a report?
The main reason for specifying associated reports is for the case where the report is kept proprietary. In such case, the members of both the source group (the reporting group) and the associated group/s, if specified, are able to access and view the proprietary data
APIs
Is there a way to experiment with the APIs, before placing scripts on the production site?
Yes, a sandbox environment is set up for a completely free experimentation with the data, both if willing to experiment with the interactive pages (reports, search, groups etc..) or for testing the use of the APIs, via an interactive API TEST FORM or via the scripts.
When being logged in, you can access the API TEST FORM here: https://sandbox.wis-tns.org/api (Make sure to fill in your bot's credentials at the top for the various operations.)
Note that the sandbox is synced (overwritten) from production every Sunday, so whatever data you report or experiment with will disappear on the following Sunday, when the production data is being updated to the sandbox.
Do I need a Bot API-Key to use the APIs, and how to alter between the sandbox and the production sites?
For working with the APIs, either via the TEST FORM or using scripts, you must have a bot's API-Key.
A new bot can be created on the Bots page, clicking the “+Add bot” at the top.
The sandbox environment is synced (overwritten) from production every Sunday, so the best practice is to create a bot on the production site for it to be available also on the sandbox on the following Sunday.
If wanting to begin testing the APIs on the sandbox right away, you can also create a bot on the sandbox, but remember that on the following Sunday it's the bot that was created on production (with its API-Key and credentials) that will come into effect also on the sandbox.
Where can I find examples for writing scripts for use with the APIs?
We provide python sample codes on the help page, under the APIs section, here: https://www.wis-tns.org/content/tns-getting-started#API-bulk
You may find there sample codes for the submission of reports (Discovery/Classification/FRB), for using the Search/Get objects APIs and the updating of a proprietary period end date.
The sample codes include examples for the handling of the rate-limit (quota) mechanism.