The programmatic layer of the ESO science archive has been recently upgraded. The main new feature is the support of authorized data searches, but there are other improvements useful to the all users of the ESO programmatic layer.

Authorised data searches are specifically useful to operations and GTO teams (e.g., SPECULOOS, 4MOST, NIRPS, SOXS, SPHERE and ESPRESSO GTO) who have been granted specific permissions to search and access data from observations subject to metadata protection, as per GTO policy (currently concerned some SPHERE and some ESPRESSO GTO runs).

Both the Table Access Protocol [TAP] for observational data and atmospheric measurements (tap_obs), and the DataLink services now support authentication and authorization. The TAP service for catalogue data (tap_cat) does not require this new functionality, as authorisation is currently not needed for this type of data.

Please refer to the dedicated Authentication & Authorisation page and to an accompanying python jupyter notebook to learn more.

TAP

While developing this new functionality, many other aspects were tackled, resulting in an overall better TAP service for all users.  The TAP software has been upgraded to the version 1.1 of the IVOA Table Access Protocol standard (list of changes are described in the TAP1.1 standard, in the Appendix A "Changes from TAP-1.0 to TAP-1.1"). Version 1.1 of the standard allows proper handling of arrays in table cells; this has a positive impact on both tap_obs and tap_cat:

• on tap_obs, the dbo.ssa table behind the SSAP service can finally provide the spatial position using an array, as mandatorily demanded by the SSA standard;
• on tap_cat, the support of arrays will be a fundamental stepping stone for the publishing of 4MOST catalogues which will use arrays to store probability distribution functions.

Other improvements, relevant to all users, also those running anonymous queries, are detailed in the programmatic change log page, and include:

• New output formats

This is the third and final data release of the Large Early Galaxy Astrophysics Census (LEGA-C, ESO programmes 194.A-2005, 1100.A-0949). The LEGA-C public spectroscopic survey targeted the 1.5 deg² of the COSMOS field (RA=10hr, Dec=+2 deg) with the VLT VIMOS multi-object spectrograph from December 2014 to May 2018.

This data release contains the science products for the full survey, doubling the sample size with respect to the second data release of 2018. It consists of 4081 spectra of 3741 unique galaxies in the redshift range 0.6 < z < 1.0, with typical continuum S/N ≃ 17, wavelength coverage 6000-9000 Angstrom and spectral resolution of R~3500. The science data products are fully reduced with a custom-built pipeline. In addition to the 1D spectra, the data release contains a catalog with spectroscopic redshifts, emission line fluxes, Lick/IDS indices, spatially integrated stellar and gas velocity RMSs (line widths). The catalogue also provides additional structural parameters measured from HST images and dynamical mass measurements. More information is available in the accompanying release documentation.

All data are publicly accessible from the Science Portal or programmatically. In addition, the catalog can be browsed via the Catalogue Facility or TAP.

A new version of the PESSTO Multi-Epoch Photometric Catalogue provides photometric lightcurve coverage for the Public European Southern Observatory Spectroscopic Survey of Transient Objects (PESSTO) targets for which follow-up lightcurves have been completed.This catalogue complements and completes the DR4 release announced in March 2021.

Photometric lightcurves for a total of 95 objects are now provided, 65 more than in the previous release (the lightcurves of 2 previously released transients have been removed from the catalogue as they do not qualify as PESSTO key-science targets).

This PESSTO public survey data release (DR4.1) is accompanied by a comprehensive description of the lightcurve catalogue.

Data are available via the ESO Catalogue Facility, or programmatically (the link brings your to a query example to find the lightcurve of SN2018ec), or via the Science Portal (specifically the catalogue preview gives you instantaneous access to the histograms of all the catalogues columns).

The PHANGS-MUSE project is an ESO Large Programme (PROGRAM ID: 1100.B-0651, PI: E. Schinnerer) which (including exposures from archival programs: 094.B-0321, 094.C-0623, 095.C-0473, 097.B-0640, 098.B-0551, 099.B-0242, 0100.B-0116) maps with MUSE 19 star forming spiral galaxies. This release provides combined mosaics of their central star-forming disk obtained by combining 5 to 15 MUSE pointings for each galaxy. In addition derived maps of emission line fluxes and kinematics as well as stellar kinematics are also included as ancillary files.

The AMBRE collaboration between the Observatoire de la Côte d'Azur (OCA, Nice) and ESO has the goal to analyse the wealth of stellar spectroscopic data in the ESO science archive using the MATISSE parametrisation algorithm to derive stellar atmospheric parameters (Recio-Blanco et al., 2006, MNRAS 370, 141, Worley et al. 2012, A&A 542A, 48, de Laverny et al. 2012, A&A 544A, 126, De Pascale (2014, A&A...570A..68).

The AMBRE collaboration between the Observatoire de la Côte d'Azur (OCA, Nice) and ESO has the goal to analyse the wealth of stellar spectroscopic data in the ESO science archive using the MATISSE parametrisation algorithm to derive stellar atmospheric parameters (Recio-Blanco et al., 2006, MNRAS 370, 141, Worley et al. 2012, A&A 542A, 48, de Laverny et al. 2012, A&A 544A, 126).

The goal of GALACTICNUCLEUS survey, ESO Large Programme 195.B-0283, PI Rainer Schödel, is to build a single-epoch high angular resolution (0.2”) source catalogue of the Galactic Centre in the near infrared bands J,H,Ks.

This data release provides access to reduced scientific data obtained with ESPRESSO. This instrument is a highly-stabilised fibre-fed echelle spectrograph that can be fed with light from either a single or up to four Unit Telescopes simultaneously. It is installed at the incoherent combined Coudé facility of the VLT. 

A new release of the Public ESO Spectroscopic Survey for Transient Objects (PESSTO) is available, including spectra and images from its ePESSTO extension, and the delivery of a new transient catalogue, globally covering 7 years of observations, from April 2012 to April 2019, for a total of 45GB.

This new release brings to 2323 the number of observed supernovae and optical transients, with calibrated 1D spectra for 2314 of them, doubling the number of objects previously published (1168 in the previous version).

Also doubled is the number of selected key targets (now 337) that were scheduled for follow-up time-series EFOSC2 optical spectroscopy, so to monitor the supernovae at the extremes of the known population e.g. the most luminous, the faintest, the fast declining, etc. The total number of spectra for the key targets is 3748, including the SOFI spectra taken for the brightest ones. SOFI imaging (broad-band JHKs) was nearly always taken when SOFI near infra-red spectra were taken.

Data are available via the ESO Science Portal or programmatically.

For more details on the observing strategy, the data reduction, calibration, and quality, along with a table of the selected key targets, and the description of the catalogue, please refer to the comprehensive release description.

Note: an updated version of the PESSTO multi-epoch photometry catalogue published in DR3.1 is expected by the summer.

The INSPIRE project is an ESO Large Programme (ID: 1104.B- 0370, PI: C. Spiniello) which uses X-Shooter (in UVB, VIS, NIR bands) to spectroscopically follow up 52 red ultra Compact Massive Galaxies selected from the KiDS VST ESO Public Survey. The goals of INSPIRE (Spiniello et al. 2021a, Spiniello et al. 2021b) is to obtain the first catalogue of spectroscopically confirmed relics in the redshift range 0.1<z<0.5, bridge the gap between the three local confirmed relics and the high-z red nuggets, use the final statistic on confirmed relics to put a stringent constraint on the predictions from simulations on the initial burst of star formation in galaxies.