Keck Observatory Archive (KOA) Python Client - Tutorial: Access to NIRSPEC Raw Data and Quicklook Reduced Data

July 2022 - PyKOA v1.7

PyKOA offers access to public raw science and calibration files acquired with the NIRSPEC cross-dispersed echelle spectrograph, and for data acqired in the high-dispesion mode, access to quicklook extracted spectra. The quick-look extracted files are intended for visualization and not for scientific analysis. See https://koa.ipac.caltech.edu/UserGuide/NIRSPEC/extracted_spectra.html for a description of the extraction. For Keck Observatory PIs, PyKOA offers secure access to their protected data with the KOA credentials assigned to them.

Queries can be launched through several dedicated methods, or through the IVOA Astronomical Data Query Langage (ADQL); ADQL queries are underpinned by nexsciTAP, a NExScI Python-based server that implements the IVOA Table Access Protocol (TAP). PyKOA enables a rich variety of searches, including cone, box, polygon, or all-sky spatial searches; temporal searches; searches on program infotmation; and complex searches on multiple attributes.

This Jupyter Notebook provides examples of the methods supported by PyKOA, and examples of how Keck PIs may access their protected data.

Installation

PyKOA can be installed from PyPI:

$ pip install --upgrade pykoa

Requirements

Requires Python 3.6 (or above), plus table read and write functions from Astropy. We have tested with Astropy 4.0.1. We recommend using the Anaconda Python distribution.