Several ctools can interact with Virtual Observatory tools such as Aladin or Topcat for the visualisation and exploration of the analysis results.
Let’s take the example of generating a sky map, as explained before. Start with launching the Aladin application on your desktop:
Aladin application after start-up
Then use ctskymap to create a sky map and specify publish=yes as argument after the tool name:
$ ctskymap publish=yes
Input event list or observation definition XML file [events.fits] obs_selected.xml
First coordinate of image center in degrees (RA or galactic l) (0-360) [83.63] 0.0
Second coordinate of image center in degrees (DEC or galactic b) (-90-90) [22.01] 0.0
Projection method (AIT|AZP|CAR|MER|MOL|STG|TAN) [CAR]
Coordinate system (CEL - celestial, GAL - galactic) (CEL|GAL) [CEL] GAL
Image scale (in degrees/pixel) [0.02]
Size of the X axis in pixels [200] 400
Size of the Y axis in pixels [200] 400
Lower energy limit (TeV) [0.1]
Upper energy limit (TeV) [100.0]
Background subtraction method (NONE|IRF) [NONE]
Output skymap file [skymap.fits]
Once ctskymap has terminated, the resulting sky map will automatically appear in the Aladin application (see below).
Aladin application after ctskymap finished execution
You can then overlay sky maps obtained at other wavelengths for comparison or objects extracted from a catalogue. In the example below we show the overlay of the Fermi/LAT 3FGL catalogue catalogue which allows us to identify Src001 with a Fermi/LAT source at the Galactic centre.
Overlay of the Fermi/LAT 3FGL catalogue over the sky map
Below the list of tools and scripts that interact with Virtual Observatory tools. Some tools or scripts publish tables instead of images, and the tables can for example by displayed and explored using Topcat.
| Tool or script | Object | VO tool (example) |
|---|---|---|
| cslightcrv | Table | Topcat |
| csresmap | Image | Aladin |
| csspec | Table | Topcat |
| csviscube | Image | Aladin |
| ctbin | Image | Aladin |
| ctbkgcube | Image | Aladin |
| ctcubemask | Image | Aladin |
| ctexpcube | Image | Aladin |
| ctmapcube | Image | Aladin |
| ctmodel | Image | Aladin |
| ctobssim | Table | Topcat |
| ctselect | Table | Topcat |
| ctskymap | Image | Aladin |
| cttsmap | Image | Aladin |