Transcript The International Variable Star Index (VSX) on the iPhone

The International Variable Star
Index (VSX) on the iPhone
John Rachlin, Ph.D. and Mark McGettrick (co-founders)
Diatom Software LLC
www.DiatomSoftware.com
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Motivation
The Post-Genomic Era: Bioinformatics is a major scientific
endeavor driving research in biomedical science and drug
discovery.
The rise of survey astronomy: current and future widefield surveys across the spectrum creating massive
astronomical catalogues (and exciting opportunities for
in silico discovery through data-mining).
GOAL: Create a generic framework for converting
modest data sets (< 1 million records) into an app for the
iOS platform (iPhone, iPod Touch, and iPad) that would
enable searching, sorting, and viewing of data (with data
analysis capability to follow).
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The Conversion Process
The App
Core DB
GUI
ReParse Data
to “regularize”
[data addObject:[[MDTMetaData alloc]
initWithIdentifier:4
colname:@"ra"
displayname:@"Right Ascension"
coltype:NUMERIC
description:@"Right Ascension (Epoch 2000)"
values:nil
precision:6
delimiter:' '
multivalued:NO
filterable:YES
sortable:YES
displayable:YES
layoutorder:4]];
SQLite
DataBase
Meta-Data
(Column
Descriptors)
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API
Astronomy
Extensions
Filtering
• Meta-data defines whether you can
filter on a particular column, and how
(Multi-Select, Numeric, Boolean)
• Number of hits is automatically
updated
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Sorting
• Sortable fields are defined in metadata
• Ascending/Descending/Off
• Drag to reorder
5
Viewing
matches
• The summary table provides
a sorted list of all matching
variables
• Key information displayed:
name, type, range, period,
position
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Favorites
• Establish an observing
program by selecting
favorites
• Future: A gateway to
recording observations
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Visibility: Astronomical Extensions
Where to find
me on a clear night!
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Future directions
• Record observations with certain fields pre-populated for greater
accuracy: Julian date, chart number, AAVSO initials
• Data analysis reports, cross-correlation chart generation. E.g., plot
period v. amplitude for all RRab type stars.
• Store finder charts (iPad recommended)
• Plot light curves or other features that leverage AAVSO APIs and
web-services
• Alert notifications when a star is due to be observed. (User would
indicate target observation frequency.)
• Red-light / night mode.
• Educational content to encourage the involvement of the next
generation of variable star observers!
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When and How Much?
Expected Release: November 2010
Expected Price: $2 - $4
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