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Doubt

Thu, 09/02/2021 - 16:52

Hello everybody. Lately I have been dedicated to learning how to use VStar for possible variable star discoveries. I was suggested to download data from ASAS, but I didn't quite understand how to do this. I read the VStar manual and even so I still had difficulties. If you have any tips to give me, I will be very grateful. Thank you for your attention and patience.

Degen1103
Affiliation
American Association of Variable Star Observers (AAVSO)
Sun, 01/15/2023 - 07:55
No observations found

I can't open neither xlsx nor csv files got from ASAS: VStar shows "No observations found" message. Help, please, to import data!

Degen1103
Affiliation
American Association of Variable Star Observers (AAVSO)
Sun, 01/15/2023 - 14:34
Show please

Dear David, show please how to get needed text file here:
https://asas-sn.osu.edu/variables/2f27eaf2-d3c5-57db-981d-fc622ff6a73a 

Yes, I have selected sourse in opening dialog, but got noted message. I even began to think about system decimal separator :(

Degen1103
Affiliation
American Association of Variable Star Observers (AAVSO)
Mon, 01/16/2023 - 03:03
So, it's impossible to use…

So, it's impossible to use with VStar nice ASAS-SN curves exported in V-band? Why???

Regretfully, link from VStar to ASAS-3 ("ASAS light curve" in the menu) does not work in this case :(

Degen1103
Affiliation
American Association of Variable Star Observers (AAVSO)
Mon, 01/16/2023 - 16:10
Of course, David, I've tried…

Of course, David, I've tried to update plugin and restart VStar, but result was the same: only ASAS text files are opened, ASAS-SN csv's do not work. 

Davidjau
Affiliation
American Association of Variable Star Observers (AAVSO)
Wed, 01/18/2023 - 17:17
ASAS-SN

Hello everyone,

It's happening to me too. However, when the curve is re-computed it works correctly.
I have checked the output of the file and there are differences in the columns, I guess the problem is here.

Curve do not re-compute:
hjd, camera, mag, mag_err, flux, flux_err.
Curve Re-compute:
HJD, UT Date, Camera, FWHM, Limit, mag, mag_err, flux(mJy), flux_err, Filter.

Regars,
David

Degen1103
Affiliation
American Association of Variable Star Observers (AAVSO)
Thu, 01/19/2023 - 16:36
...TBC

...Attempt to open file AAVSOreport***.txt created by VPhot was unsuccessful too. Source "AAVSO Upload Format" has been noted. Mistake is previous: No observations found. First rows of the file:


#TYPE=EXTENDED
#OBSCODE=AMIF
#SOFTWARE=VPhot 4.0.29
#DELIM=,
#DATE=JD
#OBSTYPE=CCD
#NAME,DATE,MAG,MERR,FILT,TRANS,MTYPE,CNAME,CMAG,KNAME,KMAG,AMASS,GROUP,CHART,NOTES
EZ Lyn,2459945.86093,17.774,0.033,V,NO,STD,ENSEMBLE,na,Star 15,16.750,1.0821,230101,230107,mpo61_V_230101|CMAGINS=-5.980|CREFMAG=15.500|KMAG=16.750|KMAGINS=-4.730|KREFMAG=16.800|OBSERVAT=MPO|VMAGINS=-3.706

Degen1103
Affiliation
American Association of Variable Star Observers (AAVSO)
Thu, 01/19/2023 - 17:23
...TBC

...and first rows from ASAS-SN csv file. Maybe decimal points are needed?...

hjd camera mag mag_err flux flux_err
2457694,94009 ba 12,131 0,025 3,901 0,992

MZK
Affiliation
American Association of Variable Star Observers (AAVSO)
Thu, 01/19/2023 - 17:58
Comma vs. Period

Mikhail,

Certainly in a 'comma separated value' (csv) file format, the use of a comma rather than a decimal point for numbers makes the format completely incorrect!

Ken 

MZK
Affiliation
American Association of Variable Star Observers (AAVSO)
Thu, 01/19/2023 - 17:48
AAVSO Report Values

Mikhail:

Some of your AAVSOReport values are 'unusual':

Note that your check star name is 'Star 15'. I suspect you created your own comp stars rather than using a normal sequence created by the sequence team?

Your group value is '230101'. It would typically be something like 1 or 2 or na?

Your Chart value is '230107'. Not unacceptable/incorrect but again not typical.

For me, this begs the question as to how you conducted your photometry and why you modified the normal process? It makes cross-checking with the sequence difficult.

The images are from AAVSONet MPO61 and you used VPhot. Perhaps you need a little guidance with that software?

Ken

David Benn
Affiliation
Astronomical Society of South Australia (ASSAU)
Fri, 01/20/2023 - 00:36
Re: Attempt to open file AAVSOreport***.txt created by VPhot

It turns out that the plugin is strictly interpreting the 5 character GROUP field length limit but the error is not being reported in a helpful way. 

The GROUP field in this case is 230101.

The extended file format spec:

  https://www.aavso.org/aavso-extended-file-format

says:

  • GROUP: Grouping identifier (maximum 5 characters). It is used for grouping multiple observations together, usually an observation set that was taken through multiple filters. It makes it easier to retrieve all magnitudes from a given set in the database, say, if someone wanted to form color indices such as (B-V) with them. If you are just doing time series, or using the same filter for multiple stars, etc., just set GROUP to "na." For cases where you want to group observations, GROUP should be an integer, identical for all observations in a group, and unique for a given observer for a given star on a given Julian Date. Limit: 5 characters.

Given that GROUP field values that don't observe this limit are being generated (by whatever tool), I'd suggest it should be removed from the spec and the VStar plugin should ignore it. Oddly, this is the only field whose length the plugin pays particular attention to.

I've created this issue to make the fix: https://github.com/AAVSO/VStar/issues/327

Indeed, there are other field lengths that the spec mentions. Should these be revisited as well?

David

Degen1103
Affiliation
American Association of Variable Star Observers (AAVSO)
Fri, 01/27/2023 - 17:25
*.csv

Sorry, I did not understand finally, what should I do for opening of ASAS and ASAS-SN *.csv files. Just *.txt files are opened with VStar on my computer.