MOPEX can be used to reduce all Spitzer data except for spectra from the IRS. This includes imaging with IRAC, MIPS and the IRS Peak-Up arrays, and MIPS SED mode. MOPEX is distributed as a package containing both the GUI and command-line versions, and is available at the following URL, with full download and setup instructions:
If you are running MOPEX on a Mac, please ensure that you drag the MOPEX icon to either your Applications folder, or some other location with write privileges. MOPEX will not work if you try to run it from the read-only directory created by the .dmg file.
Once you have installed MOPEX, start the GUI by double-clicking on the MOPEX icon, or by running the following on the command line:
All Spitzer data are downloaded from the Spitzer Heritage Archive . You will be given a choice of data products to download. MOPEX is designed to use the Level 1 (Basic Calibrated Data; BCD) products as input, but the Level 2 (Post-BCD; PBCD) products are useful for quick looks.In general, the user should begin science reductions with the BCD products. Once you have downloaded your data, unpack the zip files into a data directory (<data_dir>) of your choice.
1.7 Quickstart Guide
To create a quick mosaic of Spitzer data using MOPEX, follow the steps below. This will only create a mosaic using a generic template, and may not be optimum for your data.
Start the GUI as described above;
Load a template namelist from the File menu by clicking on File > New Mosaic Pipeline;
Select from the drop-down menu, e.g. if you have IRAC channel 1 data, select Mosaic, IRAC ch1;
Create lists of your input files on the command line, e.g.:
unix% ls /<data_dir>/ch1/bcd/*bcd.fits > InputImageList.txt
unix% ls /<data_dir>/ch1/bcd/*bunc.fits > InputUncList.txt
unix% ls /<data_dir>/ch1/bcd/*bimsk.fits > InputMskList.txt
(see Chapter 3 for more information on MOPEX input files);
Add the newly-created input list files into MOPEX. In the Initial Settings module:
Image Stack File = InputImageList.txt
Output Directory = /your/chosen/<working_dir>
And under Optional Input and Mask files:
Sigma List File = InputUncList.txt
DCE Status Mask File = InputMskList.txt
Finally, run the mosaic creation by clicking on the green “play” arrow in the top left hand corner of MOPEX. Click OK to any warnings that appear and wait for the Mosaic pipeline to run through to the end.
You can view your output mosaic within MOPEX by clicking on the “View” button in the Mosaic Combiner module, next to “Mosaic image file” or you can open the mosaic in any viewer of your choice by going to the mosaic FITS file, saved as:
