3D Spectroscopy and the Virtual Observatory

TL;DR

This paper discusses the advancements and challenges of 3D spectroscopy in astronomy, focusing on optical and near-infrared wavelengths, and explores how the virtual observatory can handle the increasing volume of complex data.

Contribution

It provides an overview of 3D spectroscopy techniques and addresses the specific data management challenges faced by the virtual observatory.

Findings

Rapid growth in optical/near-infrared 3D spectroscopy data

Diverse integral-field spectrographs deployed on major telescopes

Complexities in processing and archiving 3D spectral data

Abstract

Integral field, or 3D, spectroscopy is the technique of obtaining spectral information over a two-dimensional, hopefully contiguous, field of view. While there is some form of astronomical 3D spectroscopy at all wavelengths, there has been a rapid increase in interest in optical and near-infrared 3D spectroscopy. This has resulted in the deployment of a large variety of integral-field spectrographs on most of the large optical/infrared telescopes. The amount of IFU data available in observatory archives is large and growing rapidly. The complications of treating IFU data as both imaging and spectroscopy make it a special challenge for the virtual observatory. This article describes the various techniques of optical and near-infrared spectroscopy and some of the general needs and issues related to the handling of 3D data by the virtual observatory.