Introduction to the ESO archive as a science facility (29 Jan & 12 Feb 2021 @ ESO)

PIs and co-Is of ESO approved programmes are familiar with the ESO archive as the repository of the raw data products from their observing runs.

Since 2011, the content of the ESO archive has evolved from being mostly a technical repository to a science facility. The ESO Science Archive is now the larger facility ever, hosting `science-ready' data that are waiting to be mined, assessed and used to address scientific questions by the community. This multi-wavelength, multi-instrument, and multi-epoch wealth of information is discoverable via different interfaces, see, for example, the novel ESO archive science portal. Such services are based on a consistent data standard (data format and meta-data content) and photon provenance tracking.

At the beginning of 2021, the ESO Archive Science Group presented a brief summary of the Phase 3 process (after P1 and P2) that is a prerequisite for the ingestion of data in the archive, and illustrated examples on how to access the variety of science data and catalogues that are currently available. A particular focus has been given on the use of both the archive science portal and programmatic access to cross-match the content of heterogeneous data-streams and thus enable a multi-parameter space for discoveries.

The slides of the presentations are available here:

•  Introduction to the ESO Archive (Magda Arnaboldi)
• Data Access: Archive Science Portal and Catalogue Interface (Joerg Retzlaff)
•  Data Access: Catalogue Interface and Programmatic Access (Emanuele Paolo Farina)
•  Phase 3: Intro (Nausicaa Delmotte)
•  Phase 3: The Phase 3 process (Laura Mascetti)
• Python Demo: Day 1 & Day 2 (Emanuele Paolo Farina; NOTE: these require the ESOAsg python package)