Tutorials Overview

The Sloan Digital Sky Survey is currently observing in its fourth phase (SDSS-IV). SDSS-IV, like previous phases, is organized into component surveys, each of which has its own unique science goals and techniques for observing and data processing. Because SDSS data releases are cumulative, data from all prior component surveys are available as part of DR17.

The tables below describe each component survey whose data are included in DR17. Use them to decide which dataset will best meet your needs. Once you know which dataset(s) to use, see the survey-specific tutorials in the next sections.

General information about how use SDSS data access tools to access any dataset is available in the DR17 Data Access section.

We hope that using these pages helps you find the data you need to do your amazing science!

For the current SDSS-IV surveys, here are links to each survey's tutorials and/or examples.

• eBOSS tutorials: The data format in eBOSS is similar to that of BOSS, so we also refer the user to the BOSS tutorials below.
• APOGEE examples: examples of how to get data from APOGEE-2 in various formats for science analysis
• MaNGA IFU spectra tutorials: place with general MaNGA tutorials, how to download and find data, and some examples for simple data analysis
• MaNGA DAP tutorials: tutorials for using the MaNGA Data Analysis Products in IDL, python, and Marvin
• Marvin tutorials; Marvin, a data access and visualization tool for MaNGA, has both a web portal and python package for easy data analysis.
• MaStar tutorials: IDL and python examples for how to use mastarall file and plotting a spectrum from the MaNGA stellar library

SDSS-III was the previous phase of SDSS. SDSS-III had multiple surveys, including BOSS, SEGUE, APOGEE, and MARVELS. Below are some tutorials and examples for how to access and/or use BOSS, SEGUE, APOGEE, and MARVELS data.

BOSS

• Take a quick look at BOSS data using:
  • IDL
  • SM
  • Python

SEGUE

Here are some tutorials for SEGUE data.

• SEGUE Overview for Beginners
• Extracting SEGUE Data
• Getting SEGUE file data
• SEGUE CAS Data Tables
• Useful SQL Functions for SEGUE
• Combining Information from Different Tables (Joining)
• Ensuring Data Quality
• Sample SEGUE Queries:
  • RA/Dec rectangular search
  • Plate information by program name
  • Extracting stellar categories
  • Extracting stellar parameters
  • Color and magnitude cuts
  • Extract targets for a plate

APOGEE

Examples on how to access APOGEE data are available here.

MARVELS

• Get MARVELS data (from DR12)
  • Get RVs by star name
  • Search by star properties
  • Search for all stars in a catalog
  • Get RVs for a star in a specified date range
  • Get RVs for a list of stars
  • Get RVs for stars with a range of properties
  • Associate plates with field names
• Get MARVELS data in DR11

Getting Data for Individual Objects

• Get an image of a specific object
• Get a spectrum of a specific object
• Find out if SDSS's imaging data for an object are reliable
• Create a telescope finding chart

Searching for Data

• Find all objects in a given RA/Dec/Magnitude range
• Find images and spectra for all objects in a given RA/Dec/Magnitude range
• Find SDSS supernovae
• Upload my own data and find matching SDSS data
• Get a random subset of the data
• Find closely paired objects
• Get spectra based on color constraints
• Get redshifts for all spectra in bulk

Downloading Data

• Download Stripe 82 Images
• Get FITS images
• Download SEGUE file data

Reading SDSS Data Files

• Reading Parameter (.par) files
• Reading individual spectrum files in IRAF
• Reading Atlas Images
• Extracting PSF Images to reconstruct the PSF at a given location