[vsnet-grb 9700] Changes to GCN/Swift-XRT/-UVOT Notices format

Sun Oct 30 07:15:08 JST 2005

TO:  All GCN email sites
RE:  Two Changes in the format of some of the Swift Notices
DT:  29 Oct 05

INTRO:
This documents two changes to the GCN/Swift XRT & UVOT Notices: (a) the DATE & TIME
labels, and (b) the addition of the time-since-trigger field.
(a) The original implementation of these DATE & TIME labels was not quite right.
I got the "GRB" prefixes incorporated in some of the NFI Notices, when, in fact,
they are not strictly GRB-ish, but rather afterglow/image-related.
(b) The delta time since trigger is being added as a convenience.
These effect only the full email format notices;  nothing is changing
in the 4 pager/cell formats,  nor the socket packet contents.

WHICH NOTICES ARE CHANGING LABELS:
There are 6 Notice types that have the label changes.  See the table below.

TABLE OF CHANGES:
   NOTICE TYPE                    LABEL  DELTA_T
   ==========================     =====  =======
   XRT Position                    Y       Y
   XRT Pos Nack                    Y       Y
   XRT Image [Processed]                   Y
   XRT Spectrum [Processed]                Y
   XRT Lightcurve [Processed]              Y
   UVOT Source List [Processed]    Y       Y
   UVOT Image [Processed]          Y       Y
   UVOT Position                           Y

WHICH LABELS ARE CHANGING:
Below are pairs of extractions from the Notices in question.  For clarity,
only the NOTICE_TYPE and the *_DATE/*_TIME lines are listed for clarity
(I didn't list the whole notice because that would clutter things).
Each pair is separated by a "//////////" divider.  The current way
is listed first, then comes the new way (separated by a "========" divider).
The basic change is that the "GRB_" prefix is changed to "IMG_START_"
(or "SPEC_START_" or "LC_START_", as appropriate).

ADDITION TO THE 'TIME' LINE:
In addition to the label changes, there is also an addition to each
of the IMG_START_TIME lines.  Appended onto each line is the field:
"NN.N [sec] since BAT Trigger Time".  (This field is just the difference
between the respective start-of-image-accumulation time and
the BAT Trigger Time.)
All the XRT and UVOT notice types are getting this change.  See the table above.

SCHEDULE FOR IMPLEMENTATION:
a) The label changes will start 03 Nov 05.
b) The delta-time fields have already been added as of 26 Oct 05.

APOLOGIES:
I apologize for those of you who have written scripts to parse these incoming
email notices.  These changes (particularly the label changes) will cause you
some extra work.  However, I feel that the current set of "GRB_"-based labels
is too confusing to people, and the long-term benifits will outweigh
the short-term efforts of a few.

Sincerely,
Scott

Scott Barthelmy                      NASA-GSFC, Code 661, Greenbelt, MD   20771
PHONE:  301-286-3106                 (office)
FAX:    301-286-1684                 (1st choice,  -1682 2nd choice)
EMAIL:  scott at lheamail.gsfc.nasa.gov
PAGER:  3013463733 at mmode.com
WEB:    http://gcn.gsfc.nasa.gov/gcn

//////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////
NOTICE_TYPE:     Swift-XRT Position
GRB_DATE:        13414 TJD;    44 DOY;   05/02/13
GRB_TIME:        79992.27 SOD {22:13:12.27} UT     [Start of CCD integration]
======================================================================================
NOTICE_TYPE:     Swift-XRT Position
IMG_START_DATE:  13414 TJD;    44 DOY;   05/02/13
IMG_START_TIME:  79992.27 SOD {22:13:12.27} UT,  91.8 [sec] since BAT Trigger Time

//////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////
NOTICE_TYPE:     Swift-XRT Nack-Position
GRB_DATE:        13414 TJD;    44 DOY;   05/02/13
GRB_TIME:        79992.27 SOD {22:13:12.27} UT     [Start of CCD integration]
======================================================================================
NOTICE_TYPE:     Swift-XRT Nack-Position
IMG_START_DATE:  13414 TJD;    44 DOY;   05/02/13
IMG_START_TIME:  79992.27 SOD {22:13:12.27} UT,  91.8 [sec] since BAT Trigger Time

//////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////
NOTICE_TYPE:     Swift-XRT Image
IMG_START_DATE:  13414 TJD;    44 DOY;   05/02/13
IMG_START_TIME:  79992.27 SOD {22:13:12.27} UT
======================================================================================
NOTICE_TYPE:     Swift-XRT Image
IMG_START_DATE:  13414 TJD;    44 DOY;   05/02/13
IMG_START_TIME:  79992.27 SOD {22:13:12.27} UT,   91.8 [sec] since BAT Trigger Time

//////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////
NOTICE_TYPE:     Swift-XRT Processed Image
IMG_START_DATE:  13414 TJD;    44 DOY;   05/02/13
IMG_START_TIME:  79992.27 SOD {22:13:12.27} UT
======================================================================================
NOTICE_TYPE:     Swift-XRT Processed Image
IMG_START_DATE:  13414 TJD;    44 DOY;   05/02/13
IMG_START_TIME:  79992.27 SOD {22:13:12.27} UT,   91.8 [sec] since BAT Trigger Time

//////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////
NOTICE_TYPE:     Swift-XRT Spectrum
SPEC_START_DATE: 13414 TJD;    44 DOY;   05/02/13
SPEC_START_TIME: 80005.60 SOD {22:13:25.60} UT
======================================================================================
NOTICE_TYPE:     Swift-XRT Spectrum
SPEC_START_DATE: 13414 TJD;    44 DOY;   05/02/13
SPEC_START_TIME: 80005.60 SOD {22:13:25.60} UT,     105.1 [sec] since BAT Trigger Time

//////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////
NOTICE_TYPE:     Swift-XRT Processed Spectrum
SPEC_START_DATE: 13414 TJD;    44 DOY;   05/02/13
SPEC_START_TIME: 80013.60 SOD {22:13:33.60} UT
======================================================================================
NOTICE_TYPE:     Swift-XRT Processed Spectrum
SPEC_START_DATE: 13414 TJD;    44 DOY;   05/02/13
SPEC_START_TIME: 80013.60 SOD {22:13:33.60} UT,     113.1 [sec] since BAT Trigger Time

//////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////
NOTICE_TYPE:     Swift-XRT Processed Spectrum
SPEC_START_DATE: 13414 TJD;    44 DOY;   05/02/13
SPEC_START_TIME: 80013.60 SOD {22:13:33.60} UT
======================================================================================
NOTICE_TYPE:     Swift-XRT Processed Spectrum
SPEC_START_DATE: 13414 TJD;    44 DOY;   05/02/13
SPEC_START_TIME: 80013.60 SOD {22:13:33.60} UT,     113.1 [sec] since BAT Trigger Time

//////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////
NOTICE_TYPE:     Swift-XRT Lightcurve
LC_START_DATE:   13414 TJD;    44 DOY;   05/02/13
LC_START_TIME:   79997.61 SOD {22:13:17.61} UT
======================================================================================
NOTICE_TYPE:     Swift-XRT Lightcurve
LC_START_DATE:   13414 TJD;    44 DOY;   05/02/13
LC_START_TIME:   79997.61 SOD {22:13:17.61} UT,   97.1 [sec] since BAT Trigger Time

//////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////
NOTICE_TYPE:     Swift-UVOT Source List
GRB_DATE:        13414 TJD;    44 DOY;   05/02/13
GRB_TIME:        79998.98 SOD {22:13:18.98} UT
======================================================================================
NOTICE_TYPE:     Swift-UVOT Source List
IMG_START_DATE:  13414 TJD;    44 DOY;   05/02/13
IMG_START_TIME:  79998.98 SOD {22:13:18.98} UT,   98.5 [sec] since BAT Trigger Time

//////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////
NOTICE_TYPE:     Swift-UVOT Processed Source List
GRB_DATE:        13414 TJD;    44 DOY;   05/02/13
GRB_TIME:        79998.98 SOD {22:13:18.98} UT
======================================================================================
NOTICE_TYPE:     Swift-UVOT Processed Source List
IMG_START_DATE:  13414 TJD;    44 DOY;   05/02/13
IMG_START_TIME:  79998.98 SOD {22:13:18.98} UT,   98.5 [sec] since BAT Trigger Time

//////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////
NOTICE_TYPE:     Swift-UVOT Image
GRB_DATE:        13414 TJD;    44 DOY;   05/02/13
GRB_TIME:        79998.98 SOD {22:13:18.98} UT
======================================================================================
NOTICE_TYPE:     Swift-UVOT Image
IMG_START_DATE:  13414 TJD;    44 DOY;   05/02/13
IMG_START_TIME:  79998.98 SOD {22:13:18.98} UT,   98.5 [sec] since BAT Trigger Time

//////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////
NOTICE_TYPE:     Swift-UVOT Processed Image
GRB_DATE:        13414 TJD;    44 DOY;   05/02/13
GRB_TIME:        79998.98 SOD {22:13:18.98} UT
======================================================================================
NOTICE_TYPE:     Swift-UVOT Processed Image
IMG_START_DATE:  13414 TJD;    44 DOY;   05/02/13
IMG_START_TIME:  79998.98 SOD {22:13:18.98} UT,   98.5 [sec] since BAT Trigger Time

//////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////
NOTICE_TYPE:     Swift-UVOT Position
IMG_START_DATE:  13414 TJD;    44 DOY;   05/02/13
IMG_START_TIME:  79998.98 SOD {22:13:18.98} UT
======================================================================================
NOTICE_TYPE:     Swift-UVOT Position
IMG_START_DATE:  13414 TJD;    44 DOY;   05/02/13
IMG_START_TIME:  79998.98 SOD {22:13:18.98} UT,   98.5 [sec] since BAT Trigger Time