Transient Events

• • • Description/Features • • • Information • • • Frequently Asked Questions • • • Version History • • •

Transient Events Information

Submit Bugs/Feature Requests to:
transienteventhelp@lsst.org

Figure 1. Event Listing

The Transient Events application is a client application that displays event information from a source database. Upon launch the user is presented with a listing of recent transient events that meet a set of user defined criteria. Figure 1 shows a typical list of events. Each object will be displayed with a title, which is the event type (if characterized, if it has not been characterized then the type will simply state "Unknown"). Underneath the title will be the RA and DEC coordinates of the event and the time of detection in Universal Time. The title will be color coded to allow the user to quickly determine if the event is visible from the currently selected location. If the title is green the object is currently visible, if it is yellow then the object will be visible once it comes above the horizon (or above the minimum elevation angle if this parameter has been set) and if the title is red then the object never rises above the minimum elevation angle at this location. The location can be set using the built in GPS or by selecting a location from a built in list of observatories.

Figure 2. Event Detail

If the user is interested in a particular event they can touch the event taking the user to a detailed display of information. Figure 2 shows an example of the detailed data for a Supernova event. The detail display shows the event ID, coordinates, magnitude, event time and the Azimuth and Elevation coordinates. In addition, a series of images are shown which display the transient nature of the event. The transient area is highlighted with a box. The user can view the reference image and four of the current images by touching the forward and back triangles or simply by swiping the images left and right with a finger. There is also an option for viewing a detailed finder chart web page.
If the object is of interest the user can press the "+" symbol and add this event to a list of bookmarked events. When an event is bookmarked the data will be saved locally allowing the user to quickly retrieve the data in the future even if they are not connected to a network. Bookmarks are accessible by touching the Bookmarks icon shown in Figure 2.

Figure 3. Transient Notification

The user can be notified of new events in three ways. If the application is running pressing the "Refresh" button shown in the upper right corner of Figure 1 downloads the latest list of events. Similarly, quitting and restarting the application reloads the latest list of events. The user also has the option of turning on notifications. If they turn on notifications a new event will result in a pop-up message on the screen of their iPhone or iPod even if the Transient Events application is not running. A sample notification is shown in Figure 3. This notification will be accompanied by an alert sound. If the user unlocks their phone the Transient Events application will launch and the detailed information for this event can be viewed immediately.

Figure 4. Event Filter Settings

Currently the number of transient events is relatively small, a few per night. As the surveys become more numerous and larger in scope the events could number in the 100's/night. If each of these events generates both a notification and an entry in the table, the amount of information will become overwhelming. To help the user manage the amount of information displayed and the number of notifications presented they have the option of adjusting filters to define which events are of interest. Figure 4 shows the filters which are currently available to the users. This page also allows the user to easily turn notifications on and off.