Affiliation
Royal Astronomical Society of New Zealand, Variable Star Section (RASNZ-VSS)
Mon, 10/06/2014 - 09:34

Hi Will

I can't access DSS. eg I am trying to get a DSS image for ASASSN-14ds FOV 6' mag 18. I can do it for the ordinaryt chart eg 13632GVH but not DSS. Is there a reason for this?

Thanks

Stephen [HSP]

Affiliation
American Association of Variable Star Observers (AAVSO)
DSS charts

Hi Stephen,

For DSS charts, the chart plotter queries the ESO external site to pull down the requested DSS field, then adds the labeling.  If the external site is down for some reason, the DSS image won't appear.  We probably should have an error message appear when that happens, but it only occurs a couple of times a year (usually Sundays UT when the site might have computer maintenance).  I just tried a DSS chart and it worked fine for me, so things must be back to normal.

Arne

Affiliation
American Association of Variable Star Observers (AAVSO)
Like Arne said, we're

Like Arne said, we're querying an outside source for the images, so if they're down there's not much we can do. I am working on updates to VSP to give better error messages, so that if this happens in the future it'll be clear to the user what's going wrong.

Affiliation
Royal Astronomical Society of New Zealand, Variable Star Section (RASNZ-VSS)
DSS

Thanks, Arne and Will. As long as I understand why, that's not a problem. 
Kind regards
Stephen

PS: It's fine tonight. Yay! Even if it is just one day off a Full Mooon.