<p>"Virtual Observatory" is a catchall phrase basically for a place any scientist can publish their data (ie. tables in their papers) or for hosting databases (such as the latest releases of major survey measurements) which comply with TAP protocols and so can be easily communicated with using a variety of astronomical data analysis programs.</p>

<p>There are many many virtual observatories, here, for example, is the German Virtual Observatory, which is run by the excellent people in Heidelberg: <a href="http://www.g-vo.org/" rel="nofollow noreferrer">http://www.g-vo.org/</a></p>

<p>They have a link describing the data publishing process here: <a href="http://www.g-vo.org/pmwiki/About/PublishYourData" rel="nofollow noreferrer">http://www.g-vo.org/pmwiki/About/PublishYourData</a></p>

<p>Usually what this entails is putting your data, such as tables from your paper, into a universal format, like VOTable. This type of table is readily accessed by astronomy data analysis tools such as TopCat (or Aladin, like you mentioned): <a href="http://www.star.bris.ac.uk/~mbt/topcat/" rel="nofollow noreferrer">http://www.star.bris.ac.uk/~mbt/topcat/</a></p>

<p>Programs such as TopCat can also pull data from these virtual observatories using the TAP protocol which is described a bit here in reference to the GAVO: <a href="http://dc.zah.uni-heidelberg.de/__system__/tap/run/info" rel="nofollow noreferrer">http://dc.zah.uni-heidelberg.de/<strong>system</strong>/tap/run/info</a> (note: this link is displayed incorrectly) and a bit here: <a href="http://www.star.bris.ac.uk/~mbt/topcat/sun253/TapTableLoadDialog.html" rel="nofollow noreferrer">http://www.star.bris.ac.uk/~mbt/topcat/sun253/TapTableLoadDialog.html</a></p>

<p>The main purpose of the VO type databases is to allow people to query them while referencing data they have on their computer by allowing SQL (ADQL) queries (crossmatching, selection cuts, etc.) The TAP protocol also allows programs such as Aladin and TopCat to communitcate, so you can do a crossmatch of your data in TopCat with a catalog on the VO and the data will be instantly displayed visually in Aladin as well. Vizier, as far as I know, is just a repository of databases and does not allow this type of querying and interaction.</p>

CC BY-SA 3.0
2017-04-16T08:02:34.043Z
Very helpful overview, I think this is an excellent answer considering the currently broad question.
uhoh
CC BY-SA 3.0
2017-04-15T14:37:39.907Z
2017-04-16T01:20:19.850Z
2017-04-16T01:20:19.850Z
ohrkzt
<p>I study Computer Science and I need to understand perfectly how is the process of publishing data to the virtual observatory, since I will start a project that seeks to develop another platform to enter data into the virtual observatory (in a more intuitive way if it's possible)</p>

<p>If I understand correctly I believe that this is currently done by means of <a href="http://cdsweb.u-strasbg.fr/publication-support#yourDataInVizieR" rel="nofollow noreferrer">http://cdsweb.u-strasbg.fr/publication-support#yourDataInVizieR</a> and trough other web pages like <a href="http://www.cadc-ccda.hia-iha.nrc-cnrc.gc.ca/en/" rel="nofollow noreferrer">http://www.cadc-ccda.hia-iha.nrc-cnrc.gc.ca/en/</a> or programs like <a href="http://aladin.u-strasbg.fr/" rel="nofollow noreferrer">http://aladin.u-strasbg.fr/</a></p>

<p>Does anyone understand the topic or where can I find documentation?</p>

<p>I feel a bit overwhelmed because in these web pages I see there are many concepts that I do not understand well catalogs, VOTable, I do not even understand very well what a virtual observatory, I do not want to ask my "thesis" adviser every 5 minutes about basic concepts.</p>

<p>Any help will be well received.</p>

CC BY-SA 3.0
2017-04-13T02:58:19.867Z
What do you mean by "the virtual observatory"?  Is there a specific website or application you are using?  And you should definitely consult your thesis adviser about this.  That's what they're there for - to help you.
Phiteros
CC BY-SA 3.0
2017-04-13T04:40:27.237Z
The [IVOA](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/International_Virtual_Observatory_Alliance) seems to exist to establish guidelines, standards, etc. for contributing data to various [Virtual Observatories](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Virtual_observatory) that exist around the world - er.. around the internet I mean. Can you do some additional poking around, and if you have a more specific question, revise this one? Maybe read some of these Wikipedia articles, then come back with specific questions. It looks like you are good at that [elsewhere](http://math.stackexchange.com/users/196242/oicitrap)!
uhoh
CC BY-SA 3.0
2017-04-13T04:48:04.113Z
Yes, I guess I'll do that, read a lot and when I have any specific doubts I'll post it here.
OiciTrap
CC BY-SA 3.0
2017-04-16T08:04:31.980Z
If the question is closed as too broad, don't fret - you can revise it and ask to have it opened again at a later time, or just ask a new, more specific (or different) question when the times comes. Also, if you haven't already (I can't tell), an up vote for the accepted answer is always nice.
uhoh
CC BY-SA 3.0
2017-04-16T16:05:37.657Z
@uhoh Well, if it is closed I could still see the answer later, so no a problem for me.


You decide whether the question and the answer are useful to other people.
OiciTrap
<observatory><resource-request>
Publish data in the virtual observatory
OiciTrap
# Publish data in the virtual observatory

(Asked by: username_0 on 2017-04-12)

I study Computer Science and I need to understand perfectly how is the process of publishing data to the virtual observatory, since I will start a project that seeks to develop another platform to enter data into the virtual observatory (in a more intuitive way if it's possible)

If I understand correctly I believe that this is currently done by means of <http://cdsweb.u-strasbg.fr/publication-support#yourDataInVizieR> and trough other web pages like <http://www.cadc-ccda.hia-iha.nrc-cnrc.gc.ca/en/> or programs like <http://aladin.u-strasbg.fr/>

Does anyone understand the topic or where can I find documentation?

I feel a bit overwhelmed because in these web pages I see there are many concepts that I do not understand well catalogs, VOTable, I do not even understand very well what a virtual observatory, I do not want to ask my "thesis" adviser every 5 minutes about basic concepts.

Any help will be well received.

**Tags:** observatory, resource-request
> **Comments:**
> **username_1**: What do you mean by "the virtual observatory"?  Is there a specific website or application you are using?  And you should definitely consult your thesis adviser about this.  That's what they're there for - to help you.  
> **username_2**: The [IVOA](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/International_Virtual_Observatory_Alliance) seems to exist to establish guidelines, standards, etc. for contributing data to various [Virtual Observatories](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Virtual_observatory) that exist around the world - er.. around the internet I mean. Can you do some additional poking around, and if you have a more specific question, revise this one? Maybe read some of these Wikipedia articles, then come back with specific questions. It looks like you are good at that [elsewhere](http://math.stackexchange.com/users/196242/oicitrap)!  
> **username_0**: Yes, I guess I'll do that, read a lot and when I have any specific doubts I'll post it here.  
> **username_2**: If the question is closed as too broad, don't fret - you can revise it and ask to have it opened again at a later time, or just ask a new, more specific (or different) question when the times comes. Also, if you haven't already (I can't tell), an up vote for the accepted answer is always nice.  
> **username_0**: @uhoh Well, if it is closed I could still see the answer later, so no a problem for me.   You decide whether the question and the answer are useful to other people.  

---

## 1 answers

### Answer by username_3 on 2017-04-15. Score: 1 | Accepted answer

"Virtual Observatory" is a catchall phrase basically for a place any scientist can publish their data (ie. tables in their papers) or for hosting databases (such as the latest releases of major survey measurements) which comply with TAP protocols and so can be easily communicated with using a variety of astronomical data analysis programs.

There are many many virtual observatories, here, for example, is the German Virtual Observatory, which is run by the excellent people in Heidelberg: <http://www.g-vo.org/>

They have a link describing the data publishing process here: <http://www.g-vo.org/pmwiki/About/PublishYourData>

Usually what this entails is putting your data, such as tables from your paper, into a universal format, like VOTable. This type of table is readily accessed by astronomy data analysis tools such as TopCat (or Aladin, like you mentioned): <http://www.star.bris.ac.uk/~mbt/topcat/>

Programs such as TopCat can also pull data from these virtual observatories using the TAP protocol which is described a bit here in reference to the GAVO: [http://dc.zah.uni-heidelberg.de/**system**/tap/run/info](http://dc.zah.uni-heidelberg.de/__system__/tap/run/info) (note: this link is displayed incorrectly) and a bit here: <http://www.star.bris.ac.uk/~mbt/topcat/sun253/TapTableLoadDialog.html>

The main purpose of the VO type databases is to allow people to query them while referencing data they have on their computer by allowing SQL (ADQL) queries (crossmatching, selection cuts, etc.) The TAP protocol also allows programs such as Aladin and TopCat to communitcate, so you can do a crossmatch of your data in TopCat with a catalog on the VO and the data will be instantly displayed visually in Aladin as well. Vizier, as far as I know, is just a repository of databases and does not allow this type of querying and interaction.

> **Comments:**
> **username_2**: Very helpful overview, I think this is an excellent answer considering the currently broad question.  

---

