Observation Source Plug‐ins - AAVSO/VStar GitHub Wiki
Load observations from the AAVSO International Database
This is an internal plug-in, i.e., a part of the VStar core. See the Load from AID section of the VStar User Manual.
AAVSO Download and Simple Formats reader
This is an internal plug-in, i.e., a part of the VStar core. See the Load from File section of the VStar User Manual.
AAVSO Upload File (Visual and Extended) Format reader
Description: This plugin will allow you to open files that are either in the "AAVSO Extended File Format" or "AAVSO Visual File Format". It is hoped that this will be useful to anyone wishing to view, analyze, or check their own data files. It is also the same format as that exported from VPHOT. Please note that this plugin accepts files with dates given in either JD or HJD.
Author: David Benn working with Ken Mogul and Alan Plummer
AAVSO Photometry Search Export Format file reader
Description: This plug-in reads files exported in CSV format from the AAVSO Photometry Search page.
Author: David Benn
APASS & AAVSOnet epoch photometry observation source plug-ins
(for members only)
These plug-ins will allow you to read data from the AAVSO The AAVSO Photometric All-Sky Survey (APASS) and the AAVSOnet Epoch Photometry databases.
The AAVSOnet plug-in includes epoch photometry data from BSM as well as other AAVSOnet systems.
Access to these plug-ins is restricted to AAVSO members and you will have to authenticate (See the VStar User Manual) the first time you access them during a VStar session.
More information:
ASAS file reader
Description: This plugin allows you to open text files in the format of the All Sky Automated Survey (ASAS). Data files can be downloaded from the ASAS website or by using the AAVSO's VSX in the following manner:
- Search for a star, then click on its name to get details.
- Scroll down to the "External Links" section and select "ASAS light curve" from the drop-down list. Click "Go".
- Click the "GetData" button to view the data used, then copy and paste that into a text file.
Author: Mark Blackford & David Benn
ASAS-SN file reader
Description: This plugin allows you to open text files in the formats of the All-Sky Automated Survey for Supernovae (ASAS-SN). Data files can be generated using the ASAS-SN Sky Patrol website or downloaded from the ASAS-SN Photometry Database or ASAS-SN Variable Stars Database.
Author: David Benn, Cliff Kotnik, Maksym Pyatnytskyy
B-V series creator
Description: This plugin can be used to add a B-V plot to any lightcurve containing Johnson B and V observations. It will look for B and V observations that are within a certain interval of time apart (you can specify the tolerance) then add a datapoint with the B-V value as a new series. You can then treat it like any other series or band in VStar.
To use this plugin:
- Open the "Plug-in Manager" in the "Tool" menu and install the "B-V series creator". Close VStar and re-open it again in order for the plugin to take effect.
- Request data on your favorite star with good Johnson B and V data
- Click on the "File" then "Create B-V series..." menu items
- Specify a suitable "tolerance" - anything between 0.1 and 1.0 days
Author: David Benn (with inspiration, motivation, and testing help from Robert Jenkins)
Catalina Sky Survey file reader
Description: This plugin allows you to open files in the format of the Catalina Sky Survey (http://crts.caltech.edu/index.html). To get a datafile suitable for plotting in VStar, go to the "Object Search" form here: http://nesssi.cacr.caltech.edu/cgi-bin/getcssconedbid_release2.cgi and enter the name of the object. Save the data to a file or copy and paste it into a text file. Then on VStar's menu, select File > New Star from Catalina Sky Survey File...
Author: David Benn, documentation written by Gordon Myers
DASCH file reader
Description: This is a VStar observation source plug-in which reads DASCH (Digital Access to a Sky Century @ Harvard) data from an input file in tab-delimited "Starbase table" (.txt) format. See bugs-and-features #439 on SourceForge for VStar. More information is available at http://dasch.rc.fas.harvard.edu/lightcurve.php. To use this plugin, select “New Star from DASCH file …” from the File menu. The initial plot is somewhat distorted along the Y-axis by very large error bars - select Plot Control from the View menu and un-check the “Excluded” box in Visibility of Data.
Author: Paul York
Flexible Text File Format Reader
[Documentation] (https://github.com/AAVSO/VStar/blob/master/plugin/doc/FlexibleTextFileFormat%20Plug-In.pdf)
Description: VStar supports loading data from plain text files which can be prepared manually. There are two kinds of such “standard” plain text files: simple format containing very basic information and AAVSO download format having many columns with very detailed information about observations. To fill a gap between the two formats, the plugin was created to read files having a format that extends the “simple” text file format.
Author: Maksym Pyatnytskyy
GAIA DR2 Photometry Format reader
Description: This plugin allows you to read light curve data for any of the Gaia DR2 stars that were identified by Gaia processing as variable and therefore have photometry available. Data are accessed directly from the Gaia web service. The passbands can either be the Gaia red (RP), green (G) and blue (BP) or they can be transformed to V, Rc, Ic.
Author: Cliff Kotnik working with David Benn
Hipparcos file reader
Description: This plugin will allow you to read Hipparcos/Tycho Catalogue Data from a URL of the form http://cdsarc.u-strasbg.fr/viz-bin/nph-Plot/Vgraph/htm?I/239/76343, as constructed to access observational data for the star HIP 76343. It can read the data either as a URL or saved as a local file. The Hipparcos Variable Stars page describes some prototypical stars measured by Hipparcos, together with their HIP numbers. To find the data for a star, construct a URL like the one above replacing “76343” with the HIP number of interest. To find the HIP number for a star, check out the SIMBAD source name resolver. Please note that Hipparcos makes use of the Barycentric Julian Date (BJD).
Author: Paul York
Kepler/TESS FITS file v2.2 observation source
Description: This plugin will allow you to import Kepler, K2, and TESS FITS file format (Version 2.0) data from the NASA MAST Portal into VStar. Notes: To use this plug-in you must also download tamfits.jar (131K) and place it in your vstar_plugin_libs folder in your home directory. The code was developed using the Topcat FITS library. For an example on how to download and use Kepler, K2, and TESS data in VStar see the documentation.
Author: David Benn working with Doug Welch with improvements by Cliff Kotnik and Maksym Pyatnytskyy. Documentation written by Brad Walter, Cliff Kotnik, and Maksym Pyatnytskyy.
TESS QLP FITS file reader
Description: The QLP FITS plugin reads data from FITS files prepared by the QLP team from TESS Full-Frame Images (https://archive.stsci.edu/).
Author: Maksym Pyatnytskyy
LightKurve FITS file reader
Description: This plugin uses the LightKurve python library, to allow upload of a FITS file in the format of NASA's Kepler and TESS data. Sample Data: XZ_Cyg_S15_lightkurve.fits
Author: Maksym Pyatnytskyy
NSVS file reader
Description: This plugin will enable you load data you can download from the Northern Sky Variability Study (NSVS) - http://skydot.lanl.gov/nsvs/nsvs.php
Author: David Benn. Documentation written by Barbara Harris.
SuperWASP file observation reader
Description: This plugin will allow you to import FITS file format data from the SuperWASP program into VStar.
Sample Data: 1SWASP+J235014.28%2B512358.8.fits (233K), 1SWASP+J185717.70-380829.6.fits (119K)
Notes: To use this plug-in you must also download tamfits.jar (168K) and place it in your vstar_plugin_libs folder in your home directory. The code was developed using the Topcat FITS library. Updated version includes CCD X, Y, flux, and fluxerr.
Author: David Benn working with Doug Welch
VeLa Model Source
Description: This plugin will allow you to create a light curve plot given a VeLa model function, e.g. resulting from a VStar polynomial or Fourier model. The VeLa function is expected to have the signature:
f(t : real) : real
Notes: To try this, enter MinimiumJD: 0, MaximumJD: 360, and Points: 180 with the following function:
f(t : real) : real {
sin(toradians(t)) + random()/5
}
but see the full documentation for more details.
Known Bugs:
Author: Maksym Pyatnytskyy
ZTF observation reader
Description: This plugin allows you to retrieve light curve data from the online ZTF database. The details of the ZTF project can be found here: https://www.ztf.caltech.edu/.
Author: Maksym Pyatnytskyy