Data Columns in the MOA Time Series Data

The NASA Exoplanet Archive provides access to nine years of historical MOA photometric time series data, spanning 2006–2014. In total, there are ~2.4 million light curves across 22 target fields. A map of the observational footprint (i.e., the MOA target fields) can be accessed from the archive's MOA Mission page.

The MOA dataset consists of two components: the collection of light curves and a table containing the metadata for all the light curves. Each light curve is presented as a table in this dataset. Each row in each light curve table corresponds to a moment in time when an observation was made and the related measurements and derived values for that observation. Each row in the metadata table corresponds to a light curve. There is one row in the metadata table for each light curve in the dataset. The metadata row contains both observational information about the light curve (e.g., location on the sky) for all sources and relevant microlensing candidate selection information (e.g., the initial point-source-point-lens parameters found to fit the event) for the ~6,000 sources identified in the initial release.

The following tables define the data columns in the MOA dataset. If you have further questions about the data, please submit a Helpdesk ticket.

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Metadata Columns
Light Curve Columns

Metadata Columns

Database Column Name Table Label Unit Description
field Field   Galactic bulge observing field number
chip Chip   Chip number
subframe Subframe   Subframe number
id ID   Target identifier
tag Tag   Target classification
x x pix Pixel position x coordinate
y y pix Pixel position y coordinate
ra_j2000 RA deg Right ascension J2000
dec_j2000 Dec deg Declination J2000
number_of_data_points Number of data points analyzed   Number of data points analyzed in a light curve
number_of_frames_object_is_detected Frames detected   Number of frames in which the object is detected
max_significance Max significance   Significance at maximum significant point in light curve
sum_of_continuous_significance Sum significance   Sum of significance of continuous significant points in light curve
chi_squared_outside_search_window Chi squared outside window   Chi squared outside of the search window in light curve
dophot_object_reference_image_separation DoPHOT reference separation pix Separation in pixels to the closest
dophot_id DoPHOT ID   DoPHOT identifier
dophot_type DoPHOT type   DoPHOT type
dophot_magnitude DoPHOT magnitude   DoPHOT magnitude
dophot_magnitude_error doPHOT magnitude error   DoPHOT magnitude error
pspl_t0 t_0 (PSPL) d The time of minimum angular separation between lens and source in the fitted PSPL model
pspl_source_flux Source flux (PSPL)   The source flux in the fitted PSPL model
pspl_blending_flux Blending flux (PSPL)   The blending flux in the fitted PSPL model
pspl_t0_parabolic_error t_0 error (PSPL) d Parabolic error in pspl_t0
pspl_tE_parabolic_error t_E error (PSPL) d Parabolic error in pspl_tE
pspl_u0_parabolic_error u_0 error (PSPL)   Parabolic error in pspl_u0.
pspl_u0_error_lower_limit u_0 lower limit (PSPL) Lower limit error in pspl_u0.
pspl_u0_error_upper_limit u_0 upper limit (PSPL) Upper limit error in pspl_u0.
pspl_source_flux_error Source flux error (PSPL) Error in pspl_source_flux.
pspl_blending_flux_error Blending flux error (PSPL) Error in pspl_blending_flux.
pspl_chi_squared Chi squared (PSPL) The chi-squared statistic of the fitted PSPL model.
fspl_t0 t_0 (FSPL) d The time of minimum angular separation between lens and source in the fitted FSPL model.
fspl_tE t_E (FSPL) d The Einstein crossing time in the fitted FSPL model.
fspl_u0 u_0 (FSPL) The minimum angular separation between lens and source normalized by the angular Einstein radius in the fitted FSPL model.
fspl_rho rho (FSPL) The angular source size normalized by the angular Einstein radius in the fitted FSPL model.
fspl_source_flux Source flux (FSPL) The source flux in the fitted FSPL model.
fspl_blending_flux Blending flux (FSPL) The blending flux in the fitted FSPL model.
fspl_t0_parabolic_error t_0 error (FSPL) d Parabolic error in fspl_t0.
fspl_tE_parabolic_error t_E error (FSPL) d Parabolic error in fspl_tE.
fspl_tE_error_lower_limit t_E lower limit (FSPL) d Lower limit error in fspl_tE.
fspl_tE_error_upper_limit t_E upper limit (FSPL) d Upper limit error in fspl_tE
fspl_u0_parabolic_error u_0 error (FSPL) Parabolic error in fspl_u0.
fspl_u0_error_lower_limit u_0 lower limit (FSPL) Lower limit error in fspl_u0.
fspl_u0_error_upper_limit u_0 upper limit (FSPL) Upper limit error in fspl_u0.
fspl_rho_parabolic_error u_0 error (FSPL) Parabolic error in fspl_rho.
fspl_rho_error_lower_limit u_0 lower limit (FSPL) Lower limit error in fspl_rho.
fspl_rho_error_lower_limit u_0 upper limit (FSPL) Upper limit error in fspl_rho.
fspl_source_flux_error Source flux error (FSPL) Error in fspl_source_flux.
fspl_blending_flux_error Blending flux error (FSPL) Error in fspl_blending_flux.
fspl_chi_squared Chi squared (FSPL)   The chi-squared statistic of the fitted FSPL model.
separation_to_alert_position1 Alert 1 separation pix Separation to alert 1 position.
alert_id1 Alert 1 ID   Alert 1 identifier.
alert_id1 Alert 1 x pix Alert 1 x pixel position.
alert_y1 Alert 1 y pix Alert 1 y pixel position.
separation_to_alert_position2 Alert 2 separation pix Separation to alert 2 position.
alert_id2 Alert 2 ID Alert 2 identifier.
alert_x2 Alert 2 x pix Alert 2 x pixel position.
alert_y2 Alert 2 y pix Alert 2 y pixel position.

 

Light Curve Columns

Database Column Name Table Label Unit Description
hjd HJD d Heliocentric Julian Date of observational epoch
cor_flux Cor flux ct Detrended flux
flux Flux ct Number of counts measured for observational epoch; for a MOA magnitude of 20, this is 691.8; for magnitude of 20 for chip2; and for all other chips it's 1,445
flux_err Flux error   Uncertainty in measured flux for observational epoch
obsid Observation ID   Run number, i.e., B#
jd JD   Julian Date of observational epoch
fwhm Full-width half-maximum (FWHM)   Seeing estimated from the full-width half-maximum (FWHM) in arcseconds
sky Sky raw ct Sky level in counts on raw images
airmass Airmass   Airmass of observational epoch
nstar Nstar   Number of resolved bright stars by "probe" (it is small if there are problems on the image)
scale Image scale   Numerical factor used to scale image relative to the reference image
exptime Exposure time s Exposure time of the observational epoch in seconds
skydiff Sky difference ct Sky level in counts on the difference image (a residual of the Difference Imaging Analysis)
chisq Chi-squared (χ2)   Chi square of PSF fitting on the difference images. Two parameters are used in PSF fitting (χ2/dof is (/npix-2))
npix Npix   Number of pixels used in PSF fitting
airmass1 Cor airmass   Airmass calculated in the de-trending code
ang1 Cor angle rad Angle relative to zenith calculated in the de-trending code
included Included   Data included in fitting processes. Some data are excluded due to bad-quality flags.



Last updated: 28 November 2023