One can understand a subject better in physics by trying to solve as many proble
ID: 1318881 • Letter: O
Question
One can understand a subject better in physics by trying to solve as many problems as one can from a textbook say. When it comes to experimental physics and data analysis, no book on experimental (high energy or astrophysics or cosmology) physics comes with free data that one might analyze to test his understanding.
Are there sites online, for experiments in cosmology or astrophysics (I know that particle physics data would be overwhelming), where such data is available for free that one can play with (i.e. to be able to make cuts and reproduce simple histograms...etc)? may be to reproduce roughly the CMB curve?
Explanation / Answer
The Sloan Digital Sky Survey is very open. You can browse their dataset online, you can query it using SQL over the CAS, they even have tutorials to get you started.
The SDSS was one of the big surveys of the 2000s, with thousands of publications based on the data.
I don't think you can actually download the raw data, as it is several terabytes long. It's usually transported by copying it to hard drives and flying it home, or using dedicated fat pipes between institutions.
Some quick links:
SkyServer famous places
Navigate the SDSS sky image
Details for a galaxy, including its spectrum
Download sky images (stripes)
Science projects
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