astronomy-commons / astronomy-commons/lsdb
Calculate the association maximum separation using the positional coordinates
- Dominant language
- Python
- Stars
- 55
- Forks
- 26
- Avg merge
- 4d 1h
- Merged PRs (30d)
- 8
Description
Association catalogs have a `hats_assn_max_separation` property which defines the maximum separation between any two points in the catalog.
We should calculate this distance directly from the positional coordinates (ra/dec) of the catalogs participating in the crossmatch, instead of using a pre-existing separation column.
_Originally posted by @smcguire-cmu in https://github.com/astronomy-commons/lsdb/pull/811#discussion_r2223865688_:
"Not all crossmatch algorithms are required to give a separation column, and if they do it might be in different units. And it's annoying for the user to have to provide this. I think it will be easier to just compute the max separation from the ra dec columns."
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Research direction
Start by locating the code that sets the hats_assn_max_separation property during catalog crossmatching and inspect how it currently uses a separation column. Trace the ra/dec inputs from the participating catalogs. Done means the maximum separation is computed from positional coordinates without requiring a pre-existing separation column or assuming its units.
Written by the indexing model from the issue text.
Assessment
- Tech stack
- python
- Domain
- data
- Issue type
- Feature
- Difficulty
- 3/5
- Estimated time
- 1-2 days
- Activity status
- Stale
- Clarity
- Mostly clear
- Newbie friendliness
- 45/100