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After performing a search, the results display in a new Portal tab.  The results tab consist of a main toolbar followed by a table of results from which you can perform various actions such as column / row toggling, column manipulation, loading data into visualization tools, and downloading data directly or in bulk using the download basket.  This page describes how to navigate and interact with the table of search results.

Results Toolbar

Each result tab has a toolbar that provides a variety of information, and actions that can be performed, as shown in Fig. 1. 

Results grid toolbar

Figure 1 — The toolbar at the top of the Results Panel. The toolbar provides additional information, options, and functionality related to the search results, as described in the table below. 

Not all options apply for a given search or result (row). One or more buttons will be greyed out in such cases.

The toolbar provides the following items: 

ItemNameDescription

Result CountNumber of rows that match the search query.

Target buttonDisplays the canonical (resolved) target name and the search radius;  expandable to show the target coordinates.
Show permanent URL to search results
PermalinkCreates a persistent link (URL) to search results. Use this link to share search results with collaborators, or for your own reference.
Cross-match results with MAST catalogs
Cross-MatchCross-match the search results (or selected rows) against another catalog hosted at MAST (see Data Holdings for a list of catalogs).

Invoke the spectral viewer tool

Display the spectrum, if the result is a spectral data product.
Invoke the plotter tool
Chart ToolDisplay x-y scatter plots of search result column values.
Column ManipulationPerform column arithmetic, and remap position columns.
Add selected results to the download basket
Download BasketAdd selected row objects to the basket for downloading. Individual rows may also be added to the basket from the Actions column pull-down menu.
Add a subscription to the selected datasetObject SubscriptionSubscribe to receive notifications about the availability or status of a program or observation. Note: only available for products originating from the HST and JWST missions.
Export results table to a local file
Export Table buttonExport the search results (or a subset of them) to a local file, in one of a few common formats.
AstroView controls

AstroView Controls

Controls for AstroView footprints

Results Table

A search produces a set of results displayed by default in a list format, as shown in Fig. 2.  See below for a description of the column fields.  Each row corresponds to a single match to the search criteria: e.g., an observation if searching MAST missions, or individual sources if searching catalogs.

Search results list showing highlighted yellow data and EAP lock icons

Figure 2 — A panel of search results, displayed as a list view. Click the tabs (top left) to toggle between a list view or an album view.  Rows that are restricted by an Exclusive Access Period (EAP) are highlighted in yellow and include the EAP (black lock) icon. 

Table Column Fields and Descriptions

The Portal search results shows columns that are unified into a common nomenclature across missions.  You can hover over each column name to see a pop-up with more information such as column description and column units, if any.

Context help for results table columns - hovertext shows additional target information

Click the link below to show the available columns and their descriptions:

Name

Description

Type
Checkboxclick to select rows
Actionsa set of available actions to perform
Observation Typewhether the observation was for science or for calibrationstring
Provenance NameSoftware or team that produced the datastring
MissionMission that produced the observationstring
InstrumentName of instrument that produced the observationstring
ProjectThe mission project that produced the data productsstring
FiltersThe instrument optical elements (e.g., filters or dispersers) used string
WavebandThe wavelength regime string
Target NameThe target/field name or identifierstring
Target ClassificationThe target classification (e.g. star, galaxy, cluster) as specified in the observing proposalstring
Observation IDAn observation identifier given by the missionstring
RATarget Right Ascensionfloat
DecTarget Declinationfloat
Product TypeCategory of data product producedstring
Principal InvestigatorName of the Principal Investigator for the observing program that obtained the datastring
Calibration LevelThe pipeline calibration level int
Start TimeDate-time of exposure startdatetime
End TimeDate-time of exposure enddatetime
Exposure LengthDuration of exposure (s)int
Min. WavelengthMinimum wavelength of passband (nm)float
Max. WavelengthMaximum wavelength of passband (nm)float
Observation TitleTitle of the observing program from the proposalstring
Release DateDate-time when the data become publicdatetime
Proposal IDThe mission-assigned ID of the observing proposal/programstring
Proposal TypeThe mission-assigned category of the observing proposal (e.g., GO, SNAP, DD)string
Sequence NumberA mission-specific sequence number, (e.g. Kelper quarter or TESS sector)int
Data RightsStatus of the data availability, e.g. public or exclusive accessstring
Moving TargetIs the observation of a moving target?boolean
Product Group IDDatabase identifier for the observation IDint
Distance (")Angular separation (arcsec) from searched coordinate to the matched observationfloat

Changing the Columns Displayed

Hover on the checkbox column to show a dropdown menu containing a "Columns" entry.  Click to select which columns to display/hide.   Alternatively use the "Edit Columns" dropdown menu to display/hide specific columns. Column order may be changed by click-dragging a column to a new position.

Changing the Rows Displayed

Select the rows with the checkboxes on the left and use the "Table Display" dropdown to display only the selected or unselected rows.

Action Options

The "Actions" column indicates other actions that can be performed for the given observation.  The available actions depend upon the type of results in the row, but in general are:

IconName

Description

Download Data ProductsDirectly download the data products associated with this observation

Time-series ViewerView a time-series in the time-series visualization tool

Spectral ViewerView a spectrum in the spectral visualization tool

Load Catalog DataLoad any catalog data for this observation in new tabs

Toggle Overlay ImageToggle an overlay of the associated image in AstroView

More Actions

A list of other available actions: see below

The following figure shows more actions that can be performed:

  • Display detailed information about the observation,
  • Add the data products for the observation to the download basket,
  • Focus the AstroView tool on the coordinates of the observation.

Options for actions on a selected row

Create New Columns 

The "Create Columns" tool allows the user to perform arithmetic operations on one or two columns at a time. Operations such as addition, subtraction, multiplication and division are supported for two columns, or one column with a user-specified constant. Logarithms and exponentiation are also available for single columns.

Remap Position Columns 

For some result tables, e.g. when performing a cross-match or when adding offsets to the original RA/Dec, there may be some ambiguity as to which columns should be used as the primary position columns.  Clicking the Choose Position button allows you to specify the columns to use for the RA/Dec.

Update coordinate columns dialog

Export Table

To export the table of search results, click the "Export Table" button.  This brings up a new pop-up window with options for exporting.  The available file formats are csv, xml, json, html.  The default filename will be the name displayed in the results tab, i.e. collection + filter condition, or you can set your own file name for the table.   You can also select which columns and rows to include in the exported table. 

Export results table dialog


For Further Reading...

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