Alerts

Alert Page

TALONS transmits alerts and notifications to its clients in two forms. For fast response the alerts are sent as byte packets, thereby requiring less translation and communication time. For other responses and for logging, the alerts are translated into an XML using the VOEvent format

TALONS

TALONS (Telescope Alert Operations Network System): Uses a distributed sensor network architecture and intelligent agents to provide communication for an unlimited number of telescope systems. For more information on the alert and communication process for the Thinking Telescope project follow the link above.

VOEvent

During early 2005, the Virtual Observatory Event (VOEvent) working group set out to create a working standard for communication based in the XML format. The VOEvent notification, using human-readable element tags, describes the essential and detailed elements of any astronomical observation. Further detailed information is presented by Seaman et al. (2005) in the VOEvent documentation.

In general, a VOEvent document is a hierarchically structured set of observation data based on the five important journalistic questions (Who, What, When Where, Why and How). The structured data is easily parsed allowing for appropriate filtering of the incoming notification. The highest level VOEvent tag contains all the necessary elements to determine
the type of notification being delivered, along with a unique VO registry number. The "Who" tag would provide details on the originator of the notification and when it was issued. Astronomical target coordinates are dependent on both the position and observation time, so this data has been merged within the "WhereWhen" tag. "What" contains general information on the event including magnitudes, flux, spectra details, etc. "Why" describes
the importance of the event and/or its relationship to known persistent sources. "How" describes the equipment and instruments used to make the observation. Besides the main question tags, there is one for "Citations", listing any other notifications that are superseded or referenced (Seaman et al. 2005).

Both TALONS and eSTAR are providing a web interface for the manual insertion of alerts into the VOEvent Net system. However you must be a registered user to access this page. If you would like to have access please send an e-mail to team and an account will be set up as soon as possible.

The Alert Source XML Files are available to the public from the following TALONS storage areas, one dedicated to each source.

Alert Sources

The alerts are available via direct connect as a TALONS client, the fastest method of getting an event notification. They are also available by RSS Feeds. User either button below to access the RSS file details and put this information in your RSS Feed reader (many available on a variety of platforms).

The page links connect to a dynamically updating web page of the associated source

ROBONET

OGLE

PARITEL

Palomar-Quest

UKIRT

JCMT

SDSS

The GCN Network

The Global-burst Coordinates Network (GCN) provides direct transmitted byte packet information from these NASA satellites. TALONS is a node on the GCN network and receives information from the satellites via GCN and then re-distributes the data to its clients in both byte packet or VOEvent formats (depending on needs). Communication of observation information from subscribers is delivered via the GCN circulars. To get the latest circulars follow this link: GCN Circular Archive

Further information from the GCN Home Page: GCN

GCN System Status: Current

For Details on the GCN Notices for each satellite please follow the specific link: HETE, INTEGRAL, SWIFT

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Last edited 10/31/2006