Observation Database for High-Contrast Imaging with VLT/SPHERE IFS and IRDIS (v3.0.0)

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 v3.0.0 of the spherical Python package. Complete to 2026-08-09 (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 Four kinds of table, one set per observing mode (ifs, ifs_sam, irdis, irdis_polarimetry, irdis_sam): File tables (CSV, 81 columns) — one row per archive frame, science and calibration, with the relevant FITS header metadata. 81,050 IFS frames; 277,755 IRDIS frames. Observation tables (FITS, 118 columns) — one row per target per night per mode: observing conditions, total exposure time, field-of-view rotation, coronagraph and filter setup, data-completeness flags, and the stellar properties below. 4,733 IFS; 6,101 IRDIS; 1,205 IRDIS polarimetry; 152 IFS-SAM; 203 IRDIS-SAM. Target tables (FITS, 72 columns) — one row per unique target, with SIMBAD identifiers and the same stellar enrichment. 2,320 IFS; 2,708 IRDIS; 542 IRDIS polarimetry; 101 IFS-SAM; 117 IRDIS-SAM. database_provenance.json — how each table was built: package version, ESO query date and coverage range, Gaia data release, and per-source cross-match completeness. New in v3.0.0 Stellar ages and young-association membership. Targets are cross-matched against MOCAdb (Gagné et al. 2026) through their Gaia DR3 source IDs, adding 28 MOCA_ columns: association name and membership type, BANYAN Σ membership probabilities, adopted ages with asymmetric uncertainties, UVW space velocities and XYZ positions, rotation periods, and youth indicators (Li and Hα equivalent widths). Gaia DR3 astrophysical parameters. 12 GAIA_ columns — effective temperature, surface gravity, metallicity and extinction, each with lower and upper confidence bounds. Sparse-aperture-masking modes. New ifs_sam and irdis_sam table sets, plus a SPARSE_APERTURE_MASK flag. Target tables for every mode, and machine-readable provenance in both the provided JSON and SPH* FITS header keywords. 15 months of additional coverage (the previous release ended 2025-04-28), and a corrected ROTATION column. Age and association membership are important for sample selection and interpretation of detected candidates. They previously had to be assembled by hand. Compatibility Additive with respect to v2.0.0. No columns were removed and no files renamed, so code reading v2.0.0 columns continues to work; however, I strongly encourage using v3.0.0 exclusively. The observation tables grew from 77 to 118 columns. Tables built before this release should be re-downloaded to pick up the ROTATION fix and the enrichment columns. Usage Download with the spherical-sync-tables script, or extend the tables to the present day yourself against the ESO archive with spherical-update-database script. For how these tables were generated, the full column reference, and the complete release notes, see the spherical v3.0.0 release and the changelog. If you use the enrichment columns, please also cite Gaia DR3 and MOCAdb (Gagné et al. 2026).