FITS inspection, regions & photometry
Inspect astronomical images, define regions and measure fluxes.
20 project-authored proposals · taxonomy v1.1 · 0 new benchmark runs. Verifiers and partial-credit rules below are designs, not executed results.
- Typical applications
- SAOImage DS9 · Aladin · CARTA
- Class GUI-need label
HY· Hybrid
Task proposals · 20
Expand to inspect the complete original wording and proposed checks. Original proposal text remains English in both interfaces.
R08.01.01.01-T01 Scale an image and mark the brightest source with a DS9 region
Original instruction
In SAOImage DS9, open fixtures/field_r.fits, set scale to zscale with log stretch, and place a 5 arcsec radius circle region (fk5) centered on the brightest unsaturated star. Save it as output/brightest.reg.
- Platforms
mac· macOSwin· Windowslin· Linux- Applications
- SAOImage DS9
- Interfaces
desk· Desktop GUI- GUI need · task setting
G2· GUI-essential- GUI need · ordinary access
CL· CLI-sufficient- Interaction primitives
click· Point & clickvis· Visual judgment- Work product
WP10· Annotations- Conditions
- None declared
- Proposed difficulty
- 2 / 5
Proposed verifier
Grader parses the region: fk5 circle, radius 5"+/-0.1", center within 1" of the star's centroid (truth list); DS9 backup shows zscale + log. XPA/SAMP are disabled for the agent (no xpans); region files must carry DS9's header and the grader checks DS9's backup state.
Proposed partial credit
60% center within 1"; 20% radius/system; 20% scale settings.
R08.01.01.01-T02 Measure aperture fluxes of five stars with background annuli
Original instruction
For the 5 stars listed in input/targets.csv on fixtures/m67_v.fits, measure aperture photometry with 6" apertures and 10-15" background annuli (DS9 region analysis or photutils), and write output/phot.csv with net counts and errors.
- Platforms
mac· macOSwin· Windowslin· Linux- Applications
- SAOImage DS9 · photutils
- Interfaces
desk· Desktop GUIterm· Terminal- GUI need · task setting
HY· Hybrid- GUI need · ordinary access
CL· CLI-sufficient- Interaction primitives
click· Point & clickcode· Code & commandsvis· Visual judgment- Work product
WP02· Records/table- Conditions
- None declared
- Proposed difficulty
- 3 / 5
Proposed verifier
Grader computes reference photometry with photutils using the same apertures: net counts within 1% and errors within 10%; star centers within 0.5".
Proposed partial credit
20% apertures placed correctly; 60% net counts; 20% errors.
R08.01.01.01-T03 Blink two epochs to find a moving asteroid
Original instruction
In DS9, load fixtures/epoch1.fits and fixtures/epoch2.fits in two frames, match frames by WCS and blink them to find the one moving object. Mark it with a circle region in each frame and write its RA/Dec at both epochs to output/asteroid.json.
- Platforms
mac· macOSwin· Windowslin· Linux- Applications
- SAOImage DS9
- Interfaces
desk· Desktop GUI- GUI need · task setting
G2· GUI-essential- GUI need · ordinary access
CL· CLI-sufficient- Interaction primitives
click· Point & clickvis· Visual judgmentnav· Pan/zoom/scroll- Work product
WP10· Annotations- Conditions
- None declared
- Proposed difficulty
- 3 / 5
Proposed verifier
Grader compares to the injected object's positions: both within 1.5"; the region files reference the correct frames. XPA/SAMP are disabled for the agent (no xpans); region files must carry DS9's header and the grader checks DS9's backup state.
Proposed partial credit
50% object identified (either epoch within 3"); 50% both positions within 1.5".
R08.01.01.01-T04 Extract a transit light curve with differential photometry
Original instruction
Using AstroImageJ on the 120 calibrated frames in fixtures/transit_seq/, perform differential aperture photometry of target 'SYN-b' with at least 4 comparison stars of similar brightness, detrend by airmass, fit the transit model and report depth (ppt) and mid-time (BJD_TDB) in output/transit.json.
- Platforms
mac· macOSwin· Windowslin· Linux- Applications
- AstroImageJ
- Interfaces
desk· Desktop GUI- GUI need · task setting
HY· Hybrid- GUI need · ordinary access
CL· CLI-sufficient- Interaction primitives
click· Point & clickvis· Visual judgment- Work product
WP07· Simulation result- Conditions
long· Long-horizon- Proposed difficulty
- 5 / 5
Proposed verifier
Grader compares with the injected transit: depth within 10%, mid-time within 2 min; comparison stars must not include the 2 planted variables; measurement table saved.
Proposed partial credit
20% comparison star choice; 20% measurements table; 30% depth; 30% mid-time.
R08.01.01.01-T05 Cross-match a catalog overlay and find the uncatalogued source
Original instruction
In Aladin Desktop, load fixtures/ngc_field.fits, overlay the synthetic catalog input/gaia_synth.vot, cross-match image sources (brighter than 19 mag) within 1", and identify the bright source with no catalog counterpart. Report its RA/Dec in output/transient.json.
- Platforms
mac· macOSwin· Windowslin· Linux- Applications
- Aladin
- Interfaces
desk· Desktop GUI- GUI need · task setting
G2· GUI-essential- GUI need · ordinary access
CL· CLI-sufficient- Interaction primitives
click· Point & clickvis· Visual judgmentnav· Pan/zoom/scroll- Work product
WP12· Answer/decision- Conditions
- None declared
- Proposed difficulty
- 3 / 5
Proposed verifier
Grader: reported position within 1" of the injected transient. The Aladin script console is disabled and its history must be empty.
Proposed partial credit
50% position within 3"; 50% position within 1".
R08.01.01.01-T06 Make a moment-0 map and measure integrated line flux in CARTA
Original instruction
In CARTA, open the spectral cube fixtures/co_disk.fits, make a moment-0 map over 120-180 km/s (LSRK, radio), draw a polygon region around the emission above 3 sigma, and report the integrated flux (Jy km/s) in output/flux.json. Export the moment map as output/mom0.fits.
- Platforms
mac· macOSlin· Linux- Applications
- CARTA
- Interfaces
desk· Desktop GUIbrow· Browser- GUI need · task setting
G2· GUI-essential- GUI need · ordinary access
CL· CLI-sufficient- Interaction primitives
click· Point & clickpath· Continuous pathvis· Visual judgment- Work product
WP07· Simulation result- Conditions
- None declared
- Proposed difficulty
- 4 / 5
Proposed verifier
Grader recomputes the moment over the same range: map equal within 1% (pixelwise median); flux within 5% of reference for the true emission mask; region file exported and polygon IoU >=0.7 vs 3-sigma mask. CARTA's scripting interface (carta-python/gRPC) is disabled for the agent and the VM has no terminal, so this must be done in the CARTA GUI.
Proposed partial credit
30% moment map correct; 30% polygon region; 40% flux.
R08.01.01.01-T07 Report WCS and exposure keywords from a FITS header
Original instruction
Using astropy (or fitsheader), read fixtures/frame_0427.fits and write output/header.json with CRVAL1/2, pixel scale (arcsec/px), image rotation (deg), EXPTIME, FILTER and DATE-OBS.
- Platforms
mac· macOSwin· Windowslin· Linux- Applications
- Astropy
- Interfaces
term· Terminal- GUI need · task setting
CL· CLI-sufficient- GUI need · ordinary access
CL· CLI-sufficient- Interaction primitives
code· Code & commands- Work product
WP12· Answer/decision- Conditions
- None declared
- Proposed difficulty
- 2 / 5
Proposed verifier
Grader computes the same values; pixel scale within 0.001"/px, rotation within 0.05 deg, other fields exact.
Proposed partial credit
90% fields correct (15 pts each); 10% valid JSON.
R08.01.01.01-T08 Overlay radio contours on an optical image in DS9
Original instruction
In DS9, load the optical image fixtures/opt_r.fits and the radio map fixtures/vla_1p4.fits in two frames, create contours from the radio map at 3, 5, 10, 20 and 40 times its RMS (0.12 mJy/beam), overlay them on the optical frame via WCS, and save the contours to output/radio.ctr and a region at the radio peak.
- Platforms
mac· macOSwin· Windowslin· Linux- Applications
- SAOImage DS9
- Interfaces
desk· Desktop GUI- GUI need · task setting
G2· GUI-essential- GUI need · ordinary access
CL· CLI-sufficient- Interaction primitives
click· Point & clicktype· Text & formsvis· Visual judgment- Work product
WP10· Annotations- Conditions
- None declared
- Proposed difficulty
- 3 / 5
Proposed verifier
Grader parses the .ctr: 5 levels exact, contour coordinates in fk5 and matching the reference contours (Hausdorff <2"); peak region within 1" of the radio maximum. XPA/SAMP are disabled for the agent (no xpans); region files must carry DS9's header and the grader checks DS9's backup state.
Proposed partial credit
40% levels; 30% contour geometry; 30% peak region.
R08.01.01.01-T09 Do PSF photometry in a crowded field and flag bad fits
Original instruction
Run PSF photometry on the globular-cluster image fixtures/gc_core.fits with photutils (build an ePSF from >=20 isolated stars), inspect the residual image in DS9, flag sources whose residuals exceed 5 sigma, and write output/psf_phot.csv (x, y, flux, flux_err, flag).
- Platforms
mac· macOSwin· Windowslin· Linux- Applications
- photutils · SAOImage DS9
- Interfaces
desk· Desktop GUIterm· Terminal- GUI need · task setting
HY· Hybrid- GUI need · ordinary access
CL· CLI-sufficient- Interaction primitives
code· Code & commandsvis· Visual judgment- Work product
WP02· Records/table- Conditions
long· Long-horizon- Proposed difficulty
- 5 / 5
Proposed verifier
Grader matches to the synthetic truth catalog within 0.5 px: completeness >=90% for stars brighter than the 5-sigma limit, flux residual median <2%, flagged set F1 >=0.8 vs planted blends.
Proposed partial credit
20% ePSF quality (FWHM within 5 pct); 40% completeness; 25% flux accuracy; 15% flags.
R08.01.01.01-T10 Find the RFI-corrupted channel in a set of cubes in CARTA
Original instruction
Open the 4 cubes fixtures/hi_cube_[1-4].fits in CARTA. Using spectral profiles and channel maps, find the one cube with an RFI spike channel and report the cube name and channel index in output/answer.json.
- Platforms
mac· macOSlin· Linux- Applications
- CARTA
- Interfaces
desk· Desktop GUIbrow· Browser- GUI need · task setting
G2· GUI-essential- GUI need · ordinary access
CL· CLI-sufficient- Interaction primitives
click· Point & clickvis· Visual judgmentnav· Pan/zoom/scroll- Work product
WP12· Answer/decision- Conditions
- None declared
- Proposed difficulty
- 3 / 5
Proposed verifier
Grader compares with the planted RFI channel: cube and channel exact. CARTA's scripting interface is disabled for the agent.
Proposed partial credit
50% correct cube; 50% correct channel.
R08.01.01.01-T11 Solve astrometry for an image without WCS and verify it
Original instruction
fixtures/no_wcs.fits has no WCS. Solve it with the local astrometry.net (solve-field, index files in fixtures/index/), check the solution by overlaying input/ref_stars.vot in DS9, and write output/solved.fits plus output/wcs.json with plate scale and rotation.
- Platforms
mac· macOSlin· Linux- Applications
- astrometry.net · SAOImage DS9
- Interfaces
term· Terminaldesk· Desktop GUI- GUI need · task setting
HY· Hybrid- GUI need · ordinary access
CL· CLI-sufficient- Interaction primitives
code· Code & commandsvis· Visual judgment- Work product
WP09· Files & folders- Conditions
- None declared
- Proposed difficulty
- 3 / 5
Proposed verifier
Grader: solved.fits WCS maps reference stars to within 0.5" RMS; plate scale within 0.2% and rotation within 0.1 deg of truth.
Proposed partial credit
50% astrometric RMS; 25% plate scale; 25% rotation.
R08.01.01.01-T12 Mask diffraction spikes and a satellite trail with DS9 regions
Original instruction
For the three images fixtures/deep_[1-3].fits, draw DS9 polygon/box regions masking all diffraction spikes of the 4 brightest stars and the satellite trail in deep_2, then save the regions as output/mask_N.reg (image coordinates).
- Platforms
mac· macOSwin· Windowslin· Linux- Applications
- SAOImage DS9
- Interfaces
desk· Desktop GUI- GUI need · task setting
G2· GUI-essential- GUI need · ordinary access
G2· GUI-essential- Interaction primitives
path· Continuous pathgeom· Precise geometryvis· Visual judgment- Work product
WP10· Annotations- Conditions
- None declared
- Proposed difficulty
- 4 / 5
Proposed verifier
Grader rasterizes the regions and computes IoU with the ground-truth artifact masks: mean IoU >=0.6 for full credit; less than 2% of non-artifact source pixels covered. XPA/SAMP are disabled for the agent (no xpans); region files must carry DS9's header and the grader checks DS9's backup state.
Proposed partial credit
70% mask IoU (pro-rata from 0.3); 30% minimal coverage of real sources.
R08.01.01.01-T13 Produce a finding chart with an instrument footprint in Aladin
Original instruction
In Aladin Desktop, display the DSS2-like HiPS fixtures/hips_dss_synth around target SYN J1023+2041, overlay the instrument footprint input/ifu_fov.xml at position angle 35 deg, add a 1 arcmin scale bar and N/E arrows, and export output/finding_chart.png and output/fov.reg.
- Platforms
mac· macOSwin· Windowslin· Linux- Applications
- Aladin
- Interfaces
desk· Desktop GUI- GUI need · task setting
G2· GUI-essential- GUI need · ordinary access
CL· CLI-sufficient- Interaction primitives
click· Point & clicktype· Text & formsvis· Visual judgment- Work product
WP03· Visual layout- Conditions
- None declared
- Proposed difficulty
- 3 / 5
Proposed verifier
Grader: fov.reg center within 1" of target and PA 35+/-0.5 deg; PNG dimensions/WCS overlay checked by template matching footprint corners within 3 px; scale bar and compass presence by VLM rubric (stated). Aladin's script console and SAMP hub are disabled for the agent and its command history must be empty, so the chart must be built in the Aladin GUI.
Proposed partial credit
40% footprint position/PA; 30% chart content; 30% compass/scale (rubric).
R08.01.01.01-T14 Script the five-star aperture photometry (control pair of T02)
Original instruction
Control pair of T02: write output/phot.py using astropy and photutils only to measure the same 5 stars on fixtures/m67_v.fits with 6" apertures and 10-15" annuli (sigma-clipped median background), and write output/phot_cli.csv.
- Platforms
mac· macOSwin· Windowslin· Linux- Applications
- photutils · Astropy
- Interfaces
term· Terminal- GUI need · task setting
CL· CLI-sufficient- GUI need · ordinary access
CL· CLI-sufficient- Interaction primitives
code· Code & commands- Work product
WP02· Records/table- Conditions
- None declared
- Proposed difficulty
- 3 / 5
Proposed verifier
Control pair of T02: same tolerances (net counts within 1%, errors within 10%); script reruns.
Proposed partial credit
20% centroids; 60% net counts; 20% errors.
R08.01.01.01-T15 Calibrate and stack forty light frames in Siril
Original instruction
In Siril, calibrate the 40 light frames in fixtures/lights/ with master bias, dark and flat built from fixtures/{bias,darks,flats}/, register by star alignment, stack with average + winsorized sigma clipping, and save output/stack.fits.
- Platforms
mac· macOSwin· Windowslin· Linux- Applications
- SIRIL
- Interfaces
desk· Desktop GUI- GUI need · task setting
HY· Hybrid- GUI need · ordinary access
CL· CLI-sufficient- Interaction primitives
click· Point & clicktype· Text & formsvis· Visual judgment- Work product
WP09· Files & folders- Conditions
- None declared
- Proposed difficulty
- 4 / 5
Proposed verifier
Grader: stack.fits SNR on 10 reference stars within 5% of the reference pipeline; no hot-pixel residuals (count of >10 sigma isolated pixels <20); FWHM within 5%. Siril script files executed are logged and allowed only via GUI.
Proposed partial credit
25% calibration masters; 25% registration; 50% stack quality metrics.
R08.01.01.01-T16 Estimate seeing from the FWHM of ten stars in DS9
Original instruction
In DS9, for the 10 stars marked in input/stars.reg on fixtures/seeing_test.fits, measure each star's FWHM (radial profile or region analysis) and write output/fwhm.csv in arcsec, plus the median seeing.
- Platforms
mac· macOSwin· Windowslin· Linux- Applications
- SAOImage DS9
- Interfaces
desk· Desktop GUI- GUI need · task setting
G2· GUI-essential- GUI need · ordinary access
CL· CLI-sufficient- Interaction primitives
click· Point & clickvis· Visual judgment- Work product
WP02· Records/table- Conditions
- None declared
- Proposed difficulty
- 3 / 5
Proposed verifier
Grader fits 2D Gaussians to the same stars: per-star FWHM within 0.1" and median within 0.05". XPA/SAMP are disabled for the agent (no xpans); region files must carry DS9's header and the grader checks DS9's backup state.
Proposed partial credit
70% per-star values; 30% median.
R08.01.01.01-T17 Fit galaxy isophotes after interactive masking
Original instruction
For galaxy SYN-G7 in fixtures/galaxy_i.fits, mask foreground stars and the neighbor galaxy with DS9 regions, fit elliptical isophotes with photutils.isophote, and report effective radius (arcsec), ellipticity at R_e and total magnitude (zeropoint 25.0) in output/isophote.json.
- Platforms
mac· macOSwin· Windowslin· Linux- Applications
- SAOImage DS9 · photutils
- Interfaces
desk· Desktop GUIterm· Terminal- GUI need · task setting
HY· Hybrid- GUI need · ordinary access
HY· Hybrid- Interaction primitives
path· Continuous pathcode· Code & commandsvis· Visual judgment- Work product
WP07· Simulation result- Conditions
long· Long-horizon- Proposed difficulty
- 5 / 5
Proposed verifier
Grader compares with the injected Sersic model: R_e within 5%, ellipticity within 0.03, magnitude within 0.05; mask must cover planted contaminants (recall >=0.9).
Proposed partial credit
20% masking; 30% R_e; 20% ellipticity; 30% magnitude.
R08.01.01.01-T18 Measure maximum rotation velocity on a PV diagram in CARTA
Original instruction
In CARTA, open fixtures/rot_disk_cube.fits, create a position-velocity cut along the major axis (PA 128 deg, 40" long, 3" width), and measure the maximum projected rotation velocity relative to systemic from the PV diagram. Export output/pv.fits and output/vmax.json.
- Platforms
mac· macOSlin· Linux- Applications
- CARTA
- Interfaces
desk· Desktop GUIbrow· Browser- GUI need · task setting
G2· GUI-essential- GUI need · ordinary access
CL· CLI-sufficient- Interaction primitives
path· Continuous pathgeom· Precise geometryvis· Visual judgment- Work product
WP07· Simulation result- Conditions
- None declared
- Proposed difficulty
- 4 / 5
Proposed verifier
Grader: PV cut parameters from the exported FITS header within 1 deg/1"; vmax within 5 km/s of the injected model. CARTA's scripting interface (carta-python/gRPC) is disabled for the agent and the VM has no terminal, so this must be done in the CARTA GUI.
Proposed partial credit
40% PV cut geometry; 60% vmax.
R08.01.01.01-T19 Find an object of a given type near a position in Aladin
Original instruction
In Aladin Desktop with the provided offline SIMBAD-like table input/simbad_synth.vot, find the planetary nebula within 10 arcmin of RA 18:53:35, Dec +33:01:45 and write its identifier and angular separation to output/answer.json.
- Platforms
mac· macOSwin· Windowslin· Linux- Applications
- Aladin
- Interfaces
desk· Desktop GUI- GUI need · task setting
G2· GUI-essential- GUI need · ordinary access
CL· CLI-sufficient- Interaction primitives
click· Point & clicktype· Text & forms- Work product
WP12· Answer/decision- Conditions
- None declared
- Proposed difficulty
- 2 / 5
Proposed verifier
Grader: identifier exact; separation within 1". Aladin's script console is disabled (command history must be empty) and the agent has no terminal or Python, so the match must be found in Aladin.
Proposed partial credit
70% identifier; 30% separation.
R08.01.01.01-T20 Identify the variable star across three epochs
Original instruction
Using DS9 (matched frames, blinking) and aperture photometry on the 3 epochs fixtures/var_ep[1-3].fits, find the star whose brightness changes by more than 0.3 mag relative to field stars, and report its position and magnitudes at each epoch in output/variable.json.
- Platforms
mac· macOSwin· Windowslin· Linux- Applications
- SAOImage DS9 · photutils
- Interfaces
desk· Desktop GUIterm· Terminal- GUI need · task setting
HY· Hybrid- GUI need · ordinary access
CL· CLI-sufficient- Interaction primitives
vis· Visual judgmentclick· Point & clickcode· Code & commands- Work product
WP12· Answer/decision- Conditions
- None declared
- Proposed difficulty
- 4 / 5
Proposed verifier
Grader: position within 1" of the injected variable; magnitudes within 0.05 mag of truth (relative zero point from field stars).
Proposed partial credit
50% correct star; 50% epoch magnitudes.
Mapped research references
Existing benchmark-to-class links from the research catalog. They are not record-level annotations, executions or product endorsements.