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Iris is a spectral energy distribution (SED) analysis tool that allows the astronomer to build, edit, visualize and model SEDs across a broad spectral range.

Iris is the Virtual Astronomical Observatory downloadable application for analysis of 1-D astronomical spectral energy distributions (SEDs). Iris allows the astronomer to build a SED of a source from multiple, separate data segments or photometric points, gathered from various observatories across a wide spectral range, and fit the aggregate SED with emission and/or absorption spectral models; individual data segments may also be separately analyzed. SED data may be uploaded into the application from IVOA-compliant VOTable and FITS format files, or imported directly from the NASA Extragalactic Database; data written in non-native formats may be converted using the SED Builder portion of the tool. Iris can save SED data files in one of the aforementioned supported file formats, as well as files for restoring custom fitting sessions.

Iris seamlessly combines key features of several existing astronomical software applications to streamline and enhance the SED analysis process; these are Specview for data visualization, Sherpa for spectral model fitting, and the NASA Extragalactic Database (NED) for data access. We strongly encourage you to provide feedback on your experience with the tool by sending your comments, suggestions, and questions to the CXC HelpDesk.

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Citing Iris in a Publication

If you are writing a paper and wish to cite Iris, we recommend the following papers and presentations:

Iris: An Extensible Application for Building and Analyzing Spectral Energy Distributions [PDF]

Laurino, Omar; Budynkiewicz, Jamie; D'Abrusco, Raffaele; Bonaventura, N.; Busko, I.; Cresitello-Dittmar, M.; Doe, S.; Ebert, R.; Evans, J.; Norris, P.; Pevunova, O.; Refsdal, B.; Thomas, B.; Thompson, R., 2014, Astronomy & Computing, DOI: 10.1016/j.ascom.2014.07.004.

Iris: The VAO SED Application [PDF]

Doe, Stephen; Bonaventura, N.; Busko, I.; D'Abrusco, R.; Cresitello-Dittmar, M.; Ebert, R.; Evans, J.; Laurino, O.; McDowell, J.; Pevunova, O.; Refsdal, B., 2012, ADASS XXI, ASP Conference Series, 461, 893.

Constructing and Analyzing Spectral Energy Distributions with the Virtual Observatory [PDF]

Laurino, Omar; Busko, I.; Cresitello-Dittmar, M.; D'Abrusco, R.; Doe, S.; Evans, J.; Pevunova, O.; Norris, P., AAS Meeting #221, #240.38, Jan 2013.

Extending Iris: The VAO SED Analysis Tool [PDF] | [PDF (poster)]

Laurino, O.; Busko, I.; Cresitello-Dittmar, M.; D'Abrusco, R.; Doe, S; Evans, J. D.; Pevunova, O., 2013, ADASS XXII, ASP, 475, 295.