Observation Database for High-Contrast Imaging with VLT/SPHERE IFS and IRDIS (v3.2.0)

Curated metadata tables for all VLT/SPHERE high-contrast imaging observations in the ESO archive, covering IFS and IRDIS across five observing modes, generated by version v3.2.0 of the spherical Python package. Complete to 2026-10-30 (IRDIS from 2014-05-14, IFS from 2014-07-12). These tables contain metadata only, no reduced data products and no raw frames. They support target selection, observation filtering, and automated retrieval and reduction of SPHERE data. Contents Each observing mode (ifs, ifs_sam, irdis, irdis_polarimetry, irdis_sam) has its own observation, other-observation and target table. The file tables are per instrument. File tables (CSV, 81 columns). One row per archive frame, science and calibration, with the relevant FITS header metadata. 81,341 IFS frames; 279,691 IRDIS frames. Observation tables (FITS, 122 columns). One row per observation sequence of a stellar high-contrast target, with observing conditions, total exposure time, field-of-view rotation, coronagraph and filter setup, data-completeness flags, and stellar properties from Gaia DR3 and MOCAdb. 4,384 IFS; 5,585 IRDIS; 1,155 IRDIS polarimetry; 152 IFS-SAM; 203 IRDIS-SAM. Other-observation tables (FITS). Sequences of solar-system bodies, galaxies and other non-stellar targets, or with no matching star, with a CATEGORY column giving the reason. 135 IFS; 210 IRDIS; 48 IRDIS polarimetry; none for the SAM modes. Target tables (FITS, 72 columns). One row per unique target, with SIMBAD identifiers and the same stellar enrichment. 2,326 IFS; 2,717 IRDIS; 543 IRDIS polarimetry; 101 IFS-SAM; 117 IRDIS-SAM. database_provenance.json. How each table was built: package version, table format, ESO query date and coverage range, Gaia data release, and per-source cross-match completeness. New in v3.2.0 Observation tables hold only stellar high-contrast targets. About 390 sequences of non-stellar or unmatched targets move to the new table_of_other_observations_*.fits. Each sequence belongs to one target, and other catalogued stars in the field are listed in the new FIELD_TARGETS column. The new VETTING_FLAG column marks sequences with an ambiguous target assignment. Corrected ROTATION. It no longer jumps by 360° when the sidereal time wraps, which affected 110 sequences of v3.0.0, and field-tracking sequences now report about 0. Corrected PRIMARY_SCIENCE and HCI_READY. Mixed flux DIT no longer blocks HCI_READY, and the new columns FLUX_ND_FLAG and FLUX_DIT_SPREAD report mixed flux setups. Two and a half months of additional coverage (the previous release ended 2026-08-09). Compatibility Upgrade spherical to v3.2.0 before syncing. Versions before 3.2.0 cannot detect these tables, and their spherical-sync-tables keeps the v3.0.0 tables unless forced. No columns were removed and no existing files renamed, but rows moved out of the observation tables and several column values changed, so results based on v3.0.0 can differ. The observation tables grew from 118 to 122 columns. Usage Download with the spherical-sync-tables script, or extend the tables to the present day against the ESO archive with the spherical-update-database script. SIMBAD queries for this release went through the Harvard mirror. For how these tables were generated, the full column reference, and the complete release notes, see the spherical v3.2.0 release and the changelog. If you use the enrichment columns, please also cite Gaia DR3 and MOCAdb (Gagné et al. 2026).