When will 4MOST data be released?
Raw 4MOST data as it is coming from the telescope will be immediately published through the ESO Science Archive Facility (ESO SAF).
4MOST data will be released following the defined schedule as below (table will be updated for further internal releases).
Note: Internal data releases will only be available to 4MOST Science Team members (via 4PA); The cadence for those is
expected to be every 3 months.
Public data releases will be available publicly via 4PA and the ESO SAF.
Date | Release |
| mid-August 2026 | internal Data Release 0 (iDR0) |
| 18.11.2026 | public Data Release 0 (pDR0) |
| 26.07.2028 | public Data Release 1 (pDR1) |
| 31.07.2029 | public Data Release 2 (pDR2) |
| 05.02.2031 | public Data Release 3 (pDR3) |
| 12.08.2032 | public Data Release 4 (pDR4) |
How can I access 4MOST data?
For the general Science Team member, data access will be provided via 4PA once the data are internally released (see above).
Selected Science Team members receive early access to data via 4PRAP (4MOST Pre-Release Access Point). Access to 4PRAP will only be given to selected members of IWG3, IWG6, DMC, DRM and SITCOM for quality control and release preparation purposes. This access point is neither intended nor set up for downloading data. If you are participating in the mentioned IWGs and need access, please contact the responsible IWG lead first before asking for an account. Details about accessing 4PRAP will be provided also by the responsible IWG leads.
Access to 4PA will be provided by several means. Accounts for 4PA will be synchronized from the 4MOST website, so please be sure that you are aware of your account details and that your account is active as it will otherwise be considered as an external user (i.e. loosing access to the internal releases).
You can access 4PA via:
- Web interface (Website providing query interface, data table and spectrum viewer, download of query results)
Programmatic interface (query archive, download data via TAP, connect via TOPCAT and much more)
Since 4PA will go live with the first internal data release, we refer here to other archives based on the same framework to familiarize yourself with the protocols to retrieve data in the meantime. The GAIA archive hosted at AIP provides the same methods and protocols. See https://gaia.aip.de/cms/services/services/ for further details and https://gaia.aip.de/cms/services/scripted-access/ for details about scripted access via python. Of course, Gaia data differs greatly from the 4MOST survey data, however it will help to understand the structure of 4PA, as well as SQL access via web interface and scripted access, job handling and Topcat data access.