Preparations for Chandra/CIAO Workshop

The CXC is excited to bring you this Chandra/CIAO workshop. The workshop will consist of talks specific to Chandra data analysis using the CIAO software package, general Science talks, and Hands On Time where students learn how to use CIAO at their own pace.

During the hands on time students can choose to work their way through the Chandra/CIAO workbook or they can work on their own specific analysis. Either way, members of the CXC will be available to provide one-on-one support. To get the most of out the Hands On Time we recommend the following:

• Please come with CIAO-4.17 already installed on your laptop. CIAO 4.17 including the CALDB is approximately 10Gb; we do not recommend trying to download over the wireless network at the workshop.

  • Linux/macOS users: Please follow the standard download instructions page.
  • Windows users: CIAO is not available for native Windows. You will need to either use Windows Subsystem for Linux, SciServer, or a Docker image.

  If you encounter any problems installing CIAO, please contact the CXC Helpdesk as soon as possible.

  Alternatively users can sign up for a SciServer account where you can run CIAO remotely in a Jupyter labs environment; please create your SciServer account before the workshop.

• We expect that workshop attendees will have a basic understanding of using the Unix/Linux command line terminal. Students should know how to perform tasks such as

  • Using cd to change directories
  • Using ls to list contents of a directory
  • Using cat, more, less, or most to display the contents of a file
  • Using rm to delete files and directories
  • Using mv to move/rename files and directories
  • Using man to access the Manual pages for commands

  There are many online tutorials, just search for "unix command line beginners guide"

• A large number of students have indicated that they are familiar with Python scripting. Those students may find that working in a Jupyter labs/notebook environment more natural and reviewing the basics of the Jupyter ecosystem may be beneficial.