Data model: plates

General description: This file contains the list of plates for a given data release, with associated meta-data gathered from the design files and the reductions. There is both a FITS and a Yanny version of this file, for convenience; however, the Yanny version has some of the columns removed.

Naming convention: plates-[DRNAME].fits, plates-[DRNAME].par

Approximate size: 20 Mbytes.

File type: FITS, Yanny

Read by products: sas

Written by products: sas

Required column names: (should be listed for Yanny and FITS)

• plateID (int64): unique ID, composite of plate number and MJD
• firstRelease (string): Name of release that this plate/mjd/rerun was first distributed in
• run2d (string): reduction name for 2d extraction of plate
• run1d (string): reduction name for 1d extraction of plate
• runsspp (string): reduction name for SSPP ("none" if not run)
• plate (int16): plate number
• tile (int16): tile number for SDSS-I, -II plates (-1 for SDSS-III) [from platelist product]
• designID (int32): design ID number for SDSS-III plates (-1 for SDSS-I, -II) [from platelist product]
• locationID (int32): location ID number for SDSS-III plates (-1 for SDSS-I, -II) [from platelist product]
• mjd (int32): MJD of observation (last) (days)
• mjdList (string): List of contributing MJDs [from spPlate header]
• racen (float64): RA, J2000 of plate center [from spPlate header] (deg)
• deccen (float64): Dec, J2000 of plate center [from spPlate header] (deg)
• iopVersion (string): IOP Version [from spPlate header]
• camVersion (string): Camera code version [from spPlate header]
• taiHMS (string): Time in string format [from spPlate header]
• dateObs (string): Date of 1st row [from spPlate header]
• timeSys (string): Time System [from spPlate header]
• cx (float64): x of Normal unit vector in J2000
• cy (float64): y of Normal unit vector in J2000
• cz (float64): z of Normal unit vector in J2000
• cartid (int16): ID of cartridge used for the observation [from spPlate header]
• tai (float64): Mean time (TAI) [from spPlate header] (sec)
• tai_beg (float64): Beginning time (TAI) [from spPlate header] --/U sec (sec)
• tai_end (float64): Ending time (TAI) [from spPlate header] --/U sec (sec)
• airmass (float32): Airmass at central TAI time [from spPlate header]
• mapMjd (int32): hash of map MJD and map number [from spPlate header] (days)
• mapName (string): ID of mapping file [from spPlate header]
• plugFile (string): full name of mapping file [from spPlate header]
• expTime (float32): Total Exposure time [from spPlate header] (sec)
• expt_b1 (float32): exposure time in B1 spectrograph [from spPlate header] --/U sec (sec)
• expt_b2 (float32): exposure time in B2 spectrograph [from spPlate header] --/U sec (sec)
• expt_r1 (float32): exposure time in R1 spectrograph [from spPlate header] --/U sec (sec)
• expt_r2 (float32): exposure time in R2 spectrograph [from spPlate header] --/U sec (sec)
• vers2d (string): idlspec2d version used during 2d reduction [from spPlate header]
• verscomb (string): idlspec2d version used during combination of multiple exposures [from spPlate header]
• vers1d (string): idlspec2d version used during redshift fitting [from spPlate header]
• survey (string): Name of survey [from platelist product]
• chunk (string): Name of tiling chunk [from platelist product]
• programname (string): Name of program to which plate belongs (see the target selection section of the algorithms page for details) [from platelist product]
• platerun (string): Drilling run for plate [from platelist product]
• design_comments (string): Comments on the plate design from plate plans [from platelist product]
• platequality (string): Characterization of plate quality
• platesn2 (float32): Overall signal to noise measure for plate
• nExp (int16): Number of exposures total [from spPlate header]
• nExp_B1 (int32): Number of exposures in B1 spectrograph [from spPlate header]
• nExp_B2 (int32): Number of exposures in B2 spectrograph [from spPlate header]
• nExp_R1 (int32): Number of exposures in R1 spectrograph [from spPlate header]
• nExp_R2 (int32): Number of exposures in R2 spectrograph [from spPlate header]
• sn2_g1 (float32): signal-to-noise ratio squared in spectrograph #1 in g-band [from spPlate header]
• sn2_r1 (float32): signal-to-noise ratio squared in spectrograph #1 in r-band [from spPlate header]
• sn2_i1 (float32): signal-to-noise ratio squared in spectrograph #1 in i-band [from spPlate header]
• sn2_g2 (float32): signal-to-noise ratio squared in spectrograph #2 in g-band [from spPlate header]
• sn2_r2 (float32): signal-to-noise ratio squared in spectrograph #2 in r-band [from spPlate header]
• sn2_i2 (float32): signal-to-noise ratio squared in spectrograph #2 in i-band [from spPlate header]
• snturnoff (float32): for SEGUE plates, signal-to-noise of turnoff stars at g=18 (-9999 if no turnoff stars available)
• nturnoff (float32): for SEGUE plates, number of turnoff stars available
• helio_RV (float32): Heliocentric velocity correction [from spPlate header] (km)
• gOffStd (float32): Mean g-band mag difference (spectro - photo) for standards [from spPlate header] (mag)
• gRMSStd (float32): Stddev of g-band mag difference (spectro - photo) for standards [from spPlate header] (mag)
• rOffStd (float32): Mean r-band mag difference (spectro - photo) for standards [from spPlate header] (mag)
• rRMSStd (float32): Stddev of r-band mag difference (spectro - photo) for standards [from spPlate header] (mag)
• iOffStd (float32): Mean i-band mag difference (spectro - photo) for standards [from spPlate header] (mag)
• iRMSStd (float32): Stddev of i-band mag difference (spectro - photo) for standards [from spPlate header] (mag)
• grOffStd (float32): Mean g-band mag difference (spectro - photo) for standards [from spPlate header] (mag)
• grRMSStd (float32): Stddev of g-band mag difference (spectro - photo) for standards [from spPlate header] (mag)
• riOffStd (float32): Mean r-band mag difference (spectro - photo) for standards [from spPlate header] (mag)
• riRMSStd (float32): Stddev of r-band mag difference (spectro - photo) for standards [from spPlate header] (mag)
• gOffGal (float32): Mean g-band mag difference (spectro - photo) for galaxies [from spPlate header] (mag)
• gRMSGal (float32): Stddev of g-band mag difference (spectro - photo) for galaxies [from spPlate header] (mag)
• rOffGal (float32): Mean r-band mag difference (spectro - photo) for galaxies [from spPlate header] (mag)
• rRMSGal (float32): Stddev of r-band mag difference (spectro - photo) for galaxies [from spPlate header] (mag)
• iOffGal (float32): Mean i-band mag difference (spectro - photo) for galaxies [from spPlate header] (mag)
• iRMSGal (float32): Stddev of i-band mag difference (spectro - photo) for galaxies [from spPlate header] (mag)
• grOffGal (float32): Mean g-band mag difference (spectro - photo) for galaxies [from spPlate header] (mag)
• grRMSGal (float32): Stddev of g-band mag difference (spectro - photo) for galaxies [from spPlate header] (mag)
• riOffGal (float32): Mean r-band mag difference (spectro - photo) for galaxies [from spPlate header] (mag)
• riRMSGal (float32): Stddev of r-band mag difference (spectro - photo) for galaxies [from spPlate header] (mag)
• nGuide (int32): Number of guider camera frames taken during the exposure [from spPlate header]
• seeing20 (float32): 20th-percentile of seeing during exposure (arcsec) [from spPlate header]
• seeing50 (float32): 50th-percentile of seeing during exposure (arcsec) [from spPlate header]
• seeing80 (float32): 80th-percentile of seeing during exposure (arcsec) [from spPlate header]
• rmsoff20 (float32): 20th-percentile of RMS offset of guide fibers (arcsec) [from spPlate header]
• rmsoff50 (float32): 50th-percentile of RMS offset of guide fibers (arcsec) [from spPlate header]
• rmsoff80 (float32): 80th-percentile of RMS offset of guide fibers (arcsec) [from spPlate header]
• airtemp (float32): Air temperature in the dome [from spPlate header] (deg)
• sfd_used (int8): Were the SFD dust maps applied to the output spectrum? (0 = no, 1 = yes)
• xSigma (float32): sigma of gaussian fit to spatial profile [from spPlate header]
• xSigMin (float32): minimum of xSigma for all exposures [from spPlate header]
• xSigMax (float32): maximum of xSigma for all exposures [from spPlate header]
• wSigma (float32): sigma of gaussian fit to arc-line profiles in wavelength direction [from spPlate header]
• wSigMin (float32): minimum of wSigma for all exposures [from spPlate header]
• wSigMax (float32): minimum of wSigma for all exposures [from spPlate header]
• xChi2 (float32): [from spPlate header]
• xChi2Min (float32): [from spPlate header]
• xChi2Max (float32): [from spPlate header]
• skyChi2 (float32): average chi-squared from sky subtraction from all exposures [from spPlate header]
• schi2min (float32): minimum and maximum skyChi2 over all exposures [from spPlate header]
• schi2max (float32): minimum and maximum skyChi2 over all exposures [from spPlate header]
• fBadPix (float32): Fraction of pixels that are bad (total), meaning masked or with BADSKYCHI or REDMONSTER flags set [from spPlate header]
• fBadPix1 (float32): Fraction of pixels that are bad (spectrograph #1) [from spPlate header]
• fBadPix2 (float32): Fraction of pixels that are bad (spectrograph #2) [from spPlate header]
• status2d (string): Status of 2D extraction
• statuscombine (string): Status of combination of multiple MJDs
• status1d (string): Status of 1D reductions
• n_galaxy (float32): Number of objects classified as galaxy [calculated from spZbest file]
• n_qso (float32): Number of objects classified as QSO [calculated from spZbest file]
• n_star (float32): Number of objects classified as Star [calculated from spZbest file]
• n_sky (float32): Number of sky objects [calculated from spZbest file]
• n_unknown (float32): Number of objects with zWarning set non-zero (such objects still classified as star, galaxy or QSO) [calculated from spZbest file]
• is_tile (int8): is this plate the best representative of this tile? only set for "legacy" program plates (see glossary)
• is_primary (int8): is this MJD a primary observation a plate (best and not bad quality; see glossary)
• is_best (int8): is this MJD the best observation of the plate (see glossary)
• haMin (float32): min hour angle design [from plPlugMapM file] --/U deg (deg)
• haMax (float32): max hour angle design [from plPlugMapM file] --/U deg (deg)
• mjdDesign (int32): MJD designed for [from plPlugMapM file]
• theta (float32): cartridge position angle [from plPlugMapM file]
• fscan_version (string): version of fiber scanning software [from plPlugMapM file]
• fmap_version (string): version of fiber mapping software [from plPlugMapM file]
• fscan_mode (string): 'slow', 'fast', or 'extreme' [from plPlugMapM file]
• fscan_speed (int32): speed of scan [from plPlugMapM file]

Example file: plates-testbed8.fits