VO Software, Services and Tools
While you can use the Virtual Observatory by just using web services and applets, its full power is only harnessed by using tools on your local machine that are "VO-aware", i.e., that can talk to the VO.
There is a substantial amount of such software available, most of which is freely available. Collections of such software can be found at EuroVO's list of VO software targetted at scientists or NVO's tools page
There also is quite a bit of software to help you bring your own data into the VO; a good starting point here is EuroVO's developer page, though you should probably consult your national VO project (see the overview at IVOA) before investing substantial resources.
Recommended tools
The following tools are regularly used within the GAVO project.
- VOExplorer, a part of the Astrogrid VO Desktop -- an application allowing you to locate and, to some extent, query VO services.
- Topcat -- one of the most advanced tools to work with the VO's native data format, VOTables, maintained by the AstroGrid UK. Allows visualization, crossmatch, and much more.
- Aladin -- an interactive sky atlas with advanced plotting facilities, written by the CDS. The standalone version has some significant advantages over the well-known applet (e.g., communication with other VO tools).
- VoSpec -- A tool to retrieve and analyze spectra, written by ESA
- Specview -- Another tool to work with spectra, written by STScI. Compared to VoSpec, it strives for more compatibility with legacy data.
- Starlink SPLAT-VO -- The Starlink Spectral Anaylsis Tool. Originally developed in Starlink project, it is a graphical tool for displaying, comparing, modifying and analysing astronomical spectra stored in various data formats. Now it supports SSAP and VOTable format.
EuroVO also offers a page for example VO workflows, as step-by-step tutorials.