[vsnet-grb-info 24145] Announcing the GW Treasure Map

[GCN Circulars]

TITLE:   GCN CIRCULAR
NUMBER:  26244
SUBJECT: Announcing the GW Treasure Map
DATE:    19/11/13 22:00:19 GMT
FROM:    Aaron Tohuvavohu at U Toronto  <aaron.tohu at gmail.com>

Samuel Wyatt (U Arizona), Aaron Tohuvavohu (U Toronto), Iair Arcavi
(Tel Aviv University), David Sand, Michael Lundquist (U Arizona), D.
Andrew Howell, Curtis McCully, Austin Riba, and Jamison Burke (Las
Cumbres Observatory/UCSB)

report on behalf of the Gravitational Wave Treasure Map team:

The Gravitational Wave Treasure Map (http://treasuremap.space, Wyatt
et al. in prep) is designed to help coordinate electromagnetic
followup of gravitational-wave (GW) events. It allows observers to
easily report their planned and executed observations in search of
counterparts to GW events, and everyone to query the reports of other
observers in a programatic way via a documented and easy-to-use API.

The goal is to enable coordination between observatories and teams in
order to minimize unnecessary overlap in these searches and find the
counterpart as quickly and as efficiently as possible. The Treasure
Map also serves as a central repository for the metadata (pointing,
time, band, depth) of pointings performed in response to GW triggers
to allow for easy post-facto assessment of the world-wide
multi-wavelength coverage.

It also includes GRB mission prompt coverage, a visualization engine,
and quantitative calculator for coverage as a function of time with
optional cuts on instruments, band, and/or depth.

Treasure Map is intended as a community resource, and new features are
continuously being added. Suggestions from members of the community
are welcome.

The Neil Gehrels Swift Observatory (UVOT, XRT, BAT), Las Cumbres
Observatory, SAGUARO (Catalina Sky Survey), and Fermi/GBM teams have
already committed to posting their pointing plans, as well as
completed pointings, to the Treasure Map. Other groups are also
participating. We invite the entire community to take part, and work
to optimize the global search for electromagnetic counterparts to
gravitational wave events.