This applications translates named targets into coordinates. It queries a list of back-end resolvers, until it finds a match for a target, or until all resolvers are queried. The basic call is http://mastresolver.stsci.edu/Santa-war/query?name=M51. The parameters are
| name | the target to resolver. There can be multiple name parameters in the same request (e.g. name=M51&name=M77), each one will be resolved independently. Note that the server has a timeout of 20 seconds. This field is required |
| grouped | Changes the return XML and json to group items by search string. The default is false. |
| jsonp | The name of the javascript callback to pass this json object into. If specified the outputFormat=json is assumed. |
| outputFormat | Request the output in one of two formats, XML or JSON. XML is the default. |
| resolver | The names of the resolver to use. The valid resolvers are Coordinates, TIC, KEPLER, K2, DADS, EXO, Simbad, SimbadCFA, and NED (Not case sensitive).
|
| resolveAll | If set to the value of true, the resolution of all the name resolvers will be returned rather than simply the first successfull one to find a value. The default value is false. |
| source | An optional field to allow a system to identify itself for logging. For example, the HLA might want to set this value to HLA so all the HLA query log entries can be easily distinguished. |
| sourceKey | An optional field to allow a system to provide additional logging information to be returned to help distinguish that applications logging. |
| useCache | An optional parameter to disable the retrieval of coordinates from the SANTA cache. If set to false, the query will be resolved using the name resolvers and not the cached values. Note the cached values will be updated. The default value is true. |
| test | An optional parameter that returns additional information in the status field. Setting test to true will return verbose messages from resolvers. This information is primarily intended for debugging purposes. . |
The return of this service is an XML document or json document.
For non-grouped results the XML result is
<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8" standalone="yes"?>
<ns2:resolvedItems xmlns:ns2="santa.stsci.edu">
<resolvedCoordinate>
<cacheDate>2010-06-07T11:35:54.569-06:00</cacheDate>
<cached>true</cached>
<canonicalName>M 82</cononicalName>
<dec>69.68022222222223</dec>
<majorAxis>0.17450000000000002</majorAxis>
<minorAxis>0.07275000000000001</minorAxis>
<pm>0.0</pm>
<positionAngle>65.0</positionAngle>
<ra>148.96745833333333</ra>
<radius>0.08725000000000001</radius>
<searchRadius>-1.0</searchRadius>
<searchString>M82</searchString>
<resolver>Simbad</resolver>
</resolvedCoordinate>
<status/>
</ns2:resolvedItems>
and the json is
{"resolvedItems":[
{"searchString":"m82",
"canonicalName":"MESSIER 082",
"ra":148.96969,
"dec":69.67938,
"radius":0.09333333333333332,
"searchRadius":-1.0,
"objectType":"G",
"resolver":"NED",
"cached":true,
"cacheDate":"Wed Sep 07 23:24:41 MDT 2011"}],
"status":""}
For grouped results for two objects being resolved the
<ns2:groupedResolvedItems xmlns:ns2="santa.stsci.edu">
<resultGroup searchString="m51">
<resolvedCoordinate>
<cacheDate>2011-08-29T10:12:21-04:00</cacheDate>
<cached>true</cached>
<canonicalName>MESSIER 051</canonicalName>
<dec>47.23056</dec>
<objectType>GPair</objectType>
<ra>202.48417</ra>
<radius>0.075</radius>
<resolver>NED</resolver>
<searchRadius>-1.0</searchRadius>
<searchString>m51</searchString>
</resolvedCoordinate>
</resultGroup>
<resultGroup searchString="m82">
<resolvedCoordinate>
<cacheDate>2011-08-31T14:20:36-04:00</cacheDate>
<cached>true</cached>
<canonicalName>MESSIER 082</canonicalName>
<dec>69.67938</dec>
<objectType>G</objectType>
<ra>148.96969</ra>
<radius>0.09333333333333332</radius>
<resolver>NED</resolver>
<searchRadius>-1.0</searchRadius>
<searchString>m82</searchString>
</resolvedCoordinate>
</resultGroup>
<status/>
</ns2:groupedResolvedItems>
and the equivalent json is
{"groupedResolvedItems":[
{"searchString":"m51",
"resolvedCoordinate":[
{"canonicalName":"MESSIER 051",
"ra":202.48417,
"dec":47.23056,
"radius":0.075,
"searchRadius":-1.0,
"objectType":"GPair",
"resolver":"NED",
"cached":true,
"cacheDate":"Wed Sep 07 23:24:10 MDT 2011"}
]},
{"searchString":"m82",
"resolvedCoordinate":[
{"canonicalName":"MESSIER 082",
"ra":148.96969,
"dec":69.67938,
"radius":0.09333333333333332,
"searchRadius":-1.0,
"objectType":"G",
"resolver":"NED",
"cached":true,
"cacheDate":"Wed Sep 07 23:24:41 MDT 2011"}]
}],
"status":""}
Each resolved coordinate, either because of multiple resolvers and/or multiple name parameters given, are returned as a resolvedCoordinate. The coordinates, ra and decl, are in J2000 and are given as degrees. The radius, are in degrees of arc. A negative search radius indicates the user did not specify a radius string in their query. The proper motion is in arcseconds per year. (all of this needs to be ensured for the different resovlers....). Note each field is optional and if no value for a field is found, that field is omitted from the return document.
Additionally all results have a status field. If blank all SANTA resolvers are operational. Any exception to this will be noted in the string within the status field.