StarView
Background
StarView is an astronomical database browser and research analysis tool. Developed in Java, StarView provides an easy to use, highly capable user interface that runs on any Java enabled platform as a standalone application.
The main tasks starview is used for are:
- Searching the MAST archive for scientific data including HST and FUSE data.
- Examining the calibrations used for a particular data set
- Looking at proposal information for past HST projects
New Version 7.3
This new Java-version of StarView fully replaces the previous versions of StarView and XStarView. In addition to all of the old functionality, this new version of StarView provides new and improved interfaces and abilities including:
- More powerful Cross Qualification (the ability to use the results of one search to drive another)
- Tabular views of all matching records
- Improved export capabilities
- Improved import capabilities
- Improved form customization
- Now in Java...more platform independence
Download StarView
Note to STScI users: StarView is installed on the science cluster. You do not need to install your own copy on the Science UNIX cluster. Users in the NT network will have to install their own copy. Where possible, please use the starview command to execute this site wide installation.
Note to ALL users: A version of StarView is bundled with the Astronomers Proposal Tools. This version includes a link between the Visual Target Tuner and StarView to enable more graphical interactions between StarView and the DSS image as well as overlays of multiple observations apertures in a single DSS image. To get these features, please download the APT from the APT web pages.
To download and install the latest version of StarView, please visit the Installation page. Note a Java Applet on this page will aid you in installing StarView. Your browser may ask to grant Zero G Software permission to run this applet. Please grant it permission to allow the applet to run (it needs permission to determine what operating system you are running to select the best instalation package for you). The links below that allow you to install the program manually.
Installation notes
At this time that StarView will not work from behind a proxy server. A direct port connection outward from your computer to our server on the standard http port of 80 is required for StarView to work. If StarView will not run after you install it you can test your network setup by, from a command line, typing telnet starview.stsci.edu 80 and return followed by a Control-d and another return . If you do not see a line saying Connected to starview.stsci.edu then you are behind a proxy server. Please contact your administrator and find out if there is any way to get around the proxy.
Starview has an auto-update feature. You will not have to download any installers in the future, as the program will ask you if you wish to update it when updates are available and, if allowed to, will reinstall all files as needed and restart the program.
For UNIX site wide installations, included with the program is a file called site_env-example.dat. Please edit this file to fill out the needed information (SMTP hostname and paths to netscape) and rename this file site_env.dat. This will prevent users from trying to update the central version of StarView (they will get a message telling them to have their systems administrator update the program). It also provides default information for these fields that are needed for StarView to work that many users are unfamiliar with.
