Wednesday, September 20th at 3.00pm @ the JAC

ABSTRACT: CASSIS has been developed to speed up the scientific analysis of high resolution spectral data. It is particularly well suited to spectral surveys. It can be used on data obtained from radio-astronomical instruments; existing (IRAM, JCMT, CSO, APEX) or upcoming instruments such as the Herschel Submillimeter Observatory, SOFIA or the international interferometer ALMA. These future instruments will offer the possibility to perform large spectral surveys in a range of frequencies (Far InfraRed and Submillimeter) that are almost never observed at high spectral resolution.

CASSIS has two main capabilities : i) the possibility to predict spectra emitted from any astrophysical objects using different models (LTE for any molecule and LVG for linear molecules are presently available), and ii) the possibility to analyse large sets of observational data, coupling the observations with the use of spectroscopic databases (CDMS and JPL at this time) and collisional databases.

CASSIS is freely distributed as a stand-alone application that can be installed on any platform (Linux, Windows and Mac OSX are supported). In the future, a web-based version will also be offered, the long-term goal of the CASSIS development being an inclusion in the Virtual Observatory.

During the seminar, I'll present the history of CASSIS and the development plan for the near future. I'll also give a detailed demonstration of the software capabilities. Interaction with the audience is expected during this demonstration.