Site News

This page lists changes and additions to this site. The changes include interface enhancements as well as updates to the data that is served by the site.

• June 2007:
  • DR6 released. Please see the main DR6 site for general information about Data Release 6. DR6 changes in the CAS are listed below (links will work on DR6 sites only):
    • The following new tables have been added: Ap7Mag, sppLines, sppParams, and UberCal have been Please see also the algorithm entries for the sppLines, sppParams and UberCal tables.
    • The QuasarCatalog table has been renamed to DR3QuasarCatalog, and a new table, DR5QuasarCatalog, has been added that contains the confirmed quasars from the previous data release, DR5 (Schneider et al. 2007, AJ, in press). Note that this table is not available on the DR5 sites, since it was added well after DR5 was released.
  • The default output precision on double-precision floating point columns (e.g., R.A., declination) has been increased to 8 decimal places, and to 6 decimal places for single-precision floating point columns (e.g., redshifts, magnitudes). Note that you can always change the default precision of columns in your output, as described in the FAQ.
  • The Explore tool now displays units for columns (where applicable) shown on the summary page, and each column name is a link to the Glossary entry for that quantity (if there is one).
• May 2007:
  • Help section extensively redesigned
  • FAQ updated
  • Introduction to Skyserver added
  • Cooking with Sloan guides added
• June 2006:
  • DR5 released.
  • USNOB table renamed to ProperMotions table in DR5 (but documentation still refers to old name, please see the Known Problems page).
  • Contact Help Desk changed from link to email form.
  • Sky Maps tool added to the Navigate page.
  • Algorithms updated to include description of Sector/Region table creation algorithm, and QSO Catalogs creation algorithm. Algorithm for Match and Matchhead tables also updated.
• May 2006:
  • Added More Observations and All Spectra links to the Explore page so multiple imaging and spectroscopic observations of an object can be viewed. Also added mouseover tool-tips to Explore TOC.
  • Broken spectrum links on Portuguese Explore page fixed and Google search page added to Portuguese branch (still needs translation).
  • FAQ page updated to include entries about long objID encoding and SDSS mirror sites.
• Mar 2006:
  • Portuguese translation added (click on new Brazilian flag on front page).
  • CSV output for radial and rectangular seach pages now includes the long objID (bug fix).
• Feb 2006:
  • Syntax check feature added to SQL search page.
  • Site Search added to main menu to search SkyServer with Google.
• Dec 2005:
  • fGetObjFromRectEq added and instructions on SQL Search page updated.
  • Search Form tool updated.
  • Query Builder tool added.
  • German branch content added.
• Nov 2005:
  • Support for HH MM SS format (for R.A.) and DD MM SS format (for dec.) added to Finding Chart
  • Query limits for SQL queries decreased.
• Oct 2005: Sample queries for spatial searches added to Sample Queries page