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Pointing submissions documentation

This page contains the field definitions, rules, examples, and submission methods for MPC pointings and negative observations.

Contents

JSON Field Names

Mandatory fields (All Pointing Types)

  • action — "exposed" (string)
  • surveyExpName — unique exposure ID (string, up to 64 characters, no spaces)
  • mode — "survey" or "target" (string)
  • mpcCode — MPC-assigned 3- or 4-character site code (string)
  • time — UTC time in the format "YYYY-MM-DDThh:mm:ss.sss" (string)
  • duration — exposure length in seconds (number)
  • center — [RA, Dec] in decimal degrees (list)
  • limit — limiting magnitude (number)
  • desig — required if mode="target" (string)

Field geometry (choose exactly ONE)

Exactly ONE of the following must be provided:

  • width — side length of a square field (number)
  • widths — [ra, dec] side lengths of a rectangular field (list)
  • fieldDiam — diameter of a circular field (number)
  • offsets — tangent-plane offsets of the four field corners (list of pairs)

Optional fields

  • filter — short name of the bandpass; use "UNFILTERED" if no filter
  • nonsidereal — true or false

Negative Observations: Additional mandatory fields

  • found — boolean
  • desig — object designation in packed format, or a trksub for NEOCP
  • submitter — name of the submitter

Negative Observations: Additional optional fields

  • limiting_mag_method — integer in {1,2,3,4}
  • notes
  • number_of_stars_fov
  • pixel_scale
  • seeing
  • software
  • stacked
  • fill_factor

Negative Observations: Limiting magnitude methods

  1. On star stack, measure faint objects at the limit and scale to 5-sigma.
  2. On stack, measure sky noise, scale for a point-source area, and then to 5-sigma.
  3. Insert artificial objects into frames and measure 50% detection efficiency.
  4. Manual/custom method.

JSON Examples

Exposed Square Field (survey)

{
  "action": "exposed",
  "surveyExpName": "AK101_Jxpf341-a",
  "mode": "survey",
  "mpcCode": "802",
  "time": "2018-01-01T11:22:33.4567",
  "duration": 120,
  "center": [255.1667, -29.0079],
  "width": 2.5,
  "limit": 19.5,
  "filter": "r"
}

Exposed Circular Field (survey)

{
  "action": "exposed",
  "mode": "survey",
  "mpcCode": "802",
  "time": "2018-01-01T11:22:33.456",
  "duration": 30,
  "center": [255.167, -29.008],
  "fieldDiam": 2.45,
  "limit": 22,
  "filter": "zp1"
}

Exposed Field (Defined by Offsets)

{
  "action": "exposed",
  "surveyExpName": "Kg101_abc23112233p456",
  "mode": "survey",
  "mpcCode": "802",
  "time": "2018-01-01T11:22:33.456",
  "duration": 30,
  "center": [255.167, -29.008],
  "offsets": [[1.25, -1.25], [-1.25, -1.25], [1.25, 1.25], [-1.25, 1.25]],
  "limit": 22,
  "filter": "r"
}

Targeted observation

{
  "action": "exposed",
  "surveyExpName": "20180101-EX0132",
  "mode": "target",
  "mpcCode": "802",
  "time": "2018-01-01T11:22:33.456",
  "duration": 300,
  "center": [255.167, -29.008],
  "widths": [0.82, 0.64],
  "desig": "K18A00A",
  "limit": 23.5,
  "nonsidereal": true,
  "filter": "VR"
}

Negative observation

{
  "action": "exposed",
  "surveyExpName": "20180101-EX0132",
  "mode": "target",
  "mpcCode": "I52",
  "time": "2024-03-03T12:20:33.46",
  "duration": 45,
  "center": [255.167, -29.008],
  "widths": [0.82, 0.64],
  "desig": "P11Uypl",
  "limit": 22.7,
  "nonsidereal": true,
  "filter": "V",
  "found": false,
  "submitter": "A. Tomatic",
  "fill_factor": 0.98
}

Command-line (using curl)

URL='https://www.minorplanetcenter.net/cgi-bin/pointings/submit_negativeObs'

curl -X POST \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d @json.txt \
  $URL

Test form

Common mistakes

  • Providing multiple geometry fields
  • Missing surveyExpName
  • Wrong time format
  • Using spaces in surveyExpName
  • Forgetting desig for target mode