1. I would like to buy a star name. Can you provide me with some information?
2. Can you direct me to an electronic version of the Astronomical Almanac?
3. Where can I find basic information about the Sun?

Selected Astronomical Catalogs, Volume 1, 2, 3 and 4 CD-ROMs

1. Where can I get listings of catalogs available on the ADC's Selected Astronomical Catalogs CD-ROMs?

   The listings of catalogs available on the Selected Astronomical Catalogs CD-ROMs are contained in the Volume 1 Contents, Volume 2 Contents, Volume 3 Contents, Volume 4 Contents listings.

2. Why can't I read the ADC's Selected Astronomical Catalogs Volume 1 CD-ROM in PC Windows?

   The ADC provides software to read the Selected Astronomical Catalogs ASCII CD-ROM in PC Windows. The Aurora Editor, which will edit up to 1GB size files, is very useful for the larger ADC catalogs which often do not fit into common editors. Aurora works under DOS and Windows and is shareware. The Aurora Editor is available via anonymous ftp from adc.astro.umd.edu in pub/adc/software/windows/aurora directory. Or you can use the FITS Table Browser from your DOS prompt to read the FITS tables. (Both the ASCII CD-ROM and the FITS CD-ROM, which comprise Volume 1, contain exactly the same information, just in different formats.) The FITS Table Browser is available via anonymous ftp from adc.astro.umd.edu in the /pub/adc/software/browsers/ftb directory.

3. How do I request the Selected Astronomical Catalogs CD-ROMs?

   You can order the CD-ROMs from the NSSDC Request Coordination Office.

Searching for and Requesting Catalogs

1. Where can I get more information on and/or request catalogs held by the ADC?

   The ADC has an Internet site hosting enhanced WWW and FTP access to the ADC's holdings. The WWW home page is located at the URL

   http://adc.astro.umd.edu/.

   From this page, Web users can easily explore the ADC's FTP site, query a database of descriptions of the catalogs and journal tables, search back issues of its newsletter and browse its brochure.

2. I don't know exactly what catalog or journal table I'm looking for. Is there a comprehensive list provided by the ADC that I can browse through at my leisure?

   You can look up ADC's catalogs and journal tables by Author name or ADC Subject Keywords. These indices list the ADC catalog and journal table identifiers appropriate to each author name or each keyword. You can also view a comprehensive hypertext listing of catalogs. Each catalog entry is hyperlinked to the document that describes the catalog or journal table. At the top of each document is a hypertext link to the ADC anonymous FTP directory ftp://adc.astro.umd.edu/pub/adc/archives/. Also, the listings of catalogs and journal tables are available via anonymous FTP from adc.astro.umd.edu in the pub/adc/archives/ subdirectory (filename key), the "key" file at each level of the directory tree contains an index of each subdirectory.

3. Is it possible to extract partial information from a catalog or browse the catalog on-line? Do I have to request the whole catalog?

   The ADC Data Viewer allows researchers and the general public to access the ADC catalog and table holdings easily over the WWW. The user can subset, resort, select table columns for display, and perform simple visualizations and plots of catalogs and tables in our holdings. A related effort allows users to take entries from the catalogs and search through the logs of many NASA missions for the existence of observations that meet user selected spatial regions and temporal intervals. If the user wishes, the software will format requests to the appropriate discipline data center for access to browse images and the actual data.

   To try the ADC Data Viewer , see its Web page. Users who access catalogs from our Science Data Collection services will also be able to invoke the data viewer from the standard document display page for most ADC catalogs.

4. I don't have gzip.

   The ADC has implemented on-the-fly decompression for those lacking the ability to uncompress files at their remote sites. Our server allows on-the-fly decompression of our gzip compressed files by omitting the "gz" suffix from the file names. If you wish to obtain a copy of GNU unzip, we suggest you go to http://www.gnu.org/order/ftp.html for a listing of FTP sites for GNU software.

Catalog-Specific Questions

1. What's the difference between the Hubble Space Telescope (HST) Guide Star Photometric Catalog and the HST Guide Star Catalog?

   The HST Guide Star Photometric Catalog was created to provide photometric calibrators for the HST Guide Star Catalog. The HST Guide Star Photometric Catalog is distributed by the ADC as catalog #2143A. The ADC also has the HST Guide Star Catalog as catalog #1220.

2. Do you have any information about the Catalog of Infrared Observations ?

   The ADC does provide the Catalog of Infrared Observations as ADC catalog #2225. See also: CIO homepage

3. Do you have any information about the SKY2000 database?

   The ADC does provide the SKY2000 - Master Star Catalog - Star Catalog Database as ADC catalog #5102. The SKY2000 Star Catalog System consists of a Master Catalog stellar database and a collection of utility software designed to create and maintain the database and to generate derivative mission star catalogs (run catalogs). It contains an extensive compilation of information on almost 300000 stars brighter than 8.0 mag. See also: Flight Dynamics' Star Catalog Database

4. Where can I find:
   
   • The positions of the 100 brightest stars?
     
   • Stars identified by their Bayer, Flamsteed, or common (navigational) names?
     

   The Bright Star Catalog as ADC catalog #5050 contains all stars brighter than 6.5 magnitude (that is, all stars visible to the naked eye in a clear dark sky by a person with excellent eyesight). The main catalog lists the positions, motions, magnitudes (brightness) and other information about each star. It also lists the Bayer or Flamsteed name, and the number of the star in several modern catalogs. The notes to the catalog give the common names keyed to the number in the main catalog.

   • The stars within 50 light years?
     
   • The twenty nearest stars?
     

   The following catalog provides complete information on stars within 25 parsecs (75 light years):
   

   #5070A Nearby Stars, Preliminary (Gliese, Jahreiss 1991)
   

   The following are the way to translate the data in the catalog to X,Y and Z:

       
            R = distance
            RA = right ascension
            DEC = declination
   

   Then,

   the distance = R = 1/parallax. This will be in parsecs. To translate it to light years, multiply by 3.26.

           X = R*cos(DEC)*cos(RA)
           Y = R*cos(DEC)*sin(RA)
           Z = R*sin(DEC)
   

   You can also find a list of the nearest stars, within 17 light years of the sun at The Mizar Pages.

   • Accurate modern positions for stars?
     

   Several catalogs provide positions for the year 2000 and proper motions that can be used to change the positions (with precession) to any other date. They are:
   

   #1175 Fifth Fundamental Catalogue, FK5 Extension (Fricke et al. 1991)
   #1171 The Astrographic Reference Catalog (Corbin and Urban, 1991)
   #1146 Positions and Proper Motions (Roeser and Bastian, 1988)
   #1193 Positions and Proper Motions - South (Bastian, 1993)
   #1206 Bright Star Supplement, PPM and PPM South (Bastian et al., 1992)
   #1208 90000 Star Supplement to the PPM Star Catalogue (Roeser, 1994)
         
         #1175 and #1206 contain bright stars. Most are brighter than 7th
         magnitude. #1171, 1146, and 1193 do not contain stars brighter than 
         about 6th magnitude.
   

   • Information about Hipparcos catalogs?
     

   The final results from the ESA Hipparcos space astrometry mission (the Hipparcos and Tycho Catalogues, annexes, and documentation) were made available as from June 1997.

   The final mission results are available as follows:

   The printed catalogues comprise 16 volumes, with an additional volume 17 including 6 ASCII CD-ROMs.

   A subset of the above consisting of Volume 1 (Introduction and Guide to the Data) and Volume 17 (the ASCII CD-ROM set). Please note that this is a SUBSET of the 17-volume set.

   Celestia 2000 is a CD-ROM package containing the principal parts of the Hipparcos and Tycho Catalogues, annexes and complementary updated data (in binary format). The accompanying software allows users to easily access astrometric and photometric data for all stars contained in these Catalogues/Annexes. The software interface provides:

   For more information see the order form for the Hipparcos and Tycho Catalogues.

   The Hipparcos and Tycho Catalogues are also distributed by the ADC as catalog #1239.

   • Information about the Copernicus Atlases?
     

   Ultraviolet high resolution spectral atlases were constructed for six stars: Alpha CMa (Sirius), Alpha Lyr (Vega), Beta Ori (Rigel), Gamma Peg, Iota Her, and Tau Sco. The spectra atlases are available in FITS binary table format.

   • Information about the Messier Catalog?
     

   The Messier Catalog can be found at:

   http://www.seds.org/messier/
   http://www.icom.it/freeweb/urania/messier/messier.htm
   These sites also have images of the Messier objects.

1. Are ADC data public domain?

   All ADC data are public domain unless otherwise stated in the "ReadMe" file. The data are for scientific use only and have no commercial value.

   
   
2. How should the use of ADC data be acknowledged in reports, publications and formal presentations?

   Use of ADC data in reports, publications or formal presentations of any kind should be acknowledged by reference to the original authors and publication and to the ADC. The acknowledgement might read:

   This paper uses data provided by Joe/Jane Astronomer in AJ, 110, 1992 as distributed by the Astronomical Data Center at NASA Goddard Space Flight Center.

1. How do I obtain anonymous FTP access to the ADC holdings?

   The ADC now has over 911 astronomical catalogs and 2022 journal tables retrievable on-line via anonymous FTP.

   For direct FTP access, from Internet connect as follows:

   ftp adc.astro.umd.edu

   Log in as "anonymous".

   Once connected, move to the pub/adc/archives subdirectory which is the root of the catalog and journal table archive directories. You will normally find a "key" file present at each level of the directory tree which contains an index of each subdirectory.

   Please note that all catalogs and journal tables except for the "ReadMe" files and other miscellaneous documentation files are stored in a UNIX compressed format. The "ReadMe" file, should be read first, it normally contains the catalog and journal table identification, a summary of the files, description of the data and format description. When copying the files via anonymous FTP be sure to use the binary option, and the decompression program "gunzip" on the copied files in order to obtain the original files. Our ftp server also allows on-the-fly decompression of our gzip compressed files by omitting the "gz" suffix from the file names.

1. Where can I get images taken by the Hubble Space Telescope (HST)?

   The National Space Science Data Center, with a few exceptions, does not distribute HST imagery. NSSDC provides some Comet Shoemaker-Levy 9 HST images at http://nssdc.gsfc.nasa.gov/planetary/comet.html. The NSSDC Photo Gallery provides many other HST images at http://nssdc.gsfc.nasa.gov/photo_gallery/photogallery-hst.html. Finally, some HST data is available through NDADS/ARMS at http://ndads.gsfc.nasa.gov/archives_form_HST.html.

   More HST information, data, and imagery is available from the Space Telescope Science Institute. All inquiries should be addressed to the Space Telescope Science Institute.

   Space Telescope Science Institute
   3700 San Martin Drive
   Baltimore, MD 21218
   USA
   Telephone: (410) 338-4447
   E-mail: archive@stsci.edu
   http://www.stsci.edu/
   or anonymous ftp to stsci.edu

2. Where can I get more information regarding the 102 CD-ROM set, A Desktop Universe , containing the SERC J-band and Palomar Observatory E-band Surveys?

   Further information regarding this CD-ROM set is available from http://www-gsss.stsci.edu/dss/dss.html. All inquiries should be addressed to the Astronomical Society of the Pacific.

   Astronomical Society of the Pacific
   Department 10X
   390 Ashton Avenue
   San Francisco, CA 94112-1787
   Telephone: (415)337-2624
   FAX: (415)337-5205

3. How do I search for data or images of a particular object or position on the sky (RA & Dec)?

   If you would like to browse on-line images of a certain area of the sky taken by a variety of different spacecraft, access the SkyView Virtual Observatory.

   The NASA/IPAC Extragalactic Database (NED) is also a good option for searching the sky by object name, position, etc. To access NED,

   TELNET NED.IPAC.CALTECH.EDU
   Login: ned

   WWW users can access NED via http://nedwww.ipac.caltech.edu/.

4. Where can I get radio images?

   For radio images, access the NCSA Astronomy Digital Library at http://imagelib.ncsa.uiuc.edu/imagelib.html.

Miscellaneous

1. I would like to buy a star name. Can you provide me with some information?

   In response to numerous inquiries on the subject of purchasing star names, the International Astronomical Union (IAU) offers the following information.

   The IAU receives an increasing number of requests from individuals who want to buy stars or star names, or name stars after other persons. The IAU is aware that some commercial enterprises purport to offer such services for a fee. The fact is that such "names" have no formal or official validity whatever; a few bright stars have ancient, traditional Arabic names, but otherwise stars have just numbers and positions on the sky.

   To see that the idea of "buying" stars or star names is inherently absurd, consider that there are perhaps 100,000,000,000 stars in our Milky Way Galaxy alone where other beings might in principle compete on the market. Stars cannot be fenced in, taken home, or locked up in a vault: Like so many of the best things in life, the beauty of the night sky is not for sale, but is there for all to enjoy.

   However, there is now a way to explore the sky in your own home: Large sky surveys have become available in digital form on CD ROM, e.g. from the Astronomical Society of the Pacific (catalog@aspsky.org). This allows everyone to browse among many hundreds of millions of stars on your home computer. These maps are the main data base of at least some of the commercial star naming enterprises; why pay a markup for buying the stars one at a time?

   For the sake of completeness, it is noted that these rules apply also to naming star clusters or galaxies as well as to individual stars.

2. Can you direct me to an electronic version of the Astronomical Almanac?

   The Astronomical Almanac is published by the US Naval Observatory Astronomical Applications Department:
   http://aa.usno.navy.mil/AA/publications/docs/almanacs.html
   

   The hardcopy can be purchased from the US Government Printing Office. USNO does not put the entire Almanac on-line. However, much of the data on the Sun, Moon, and solar system phenomena are on-line:
   http://aa.usno.navy.mil/AA/data
   
   Software products are also available:
   
   NOVAS - Naval Observatory Vector Astrometry Subroutines
   

   NOVAS is an integrated package of subroutines for the computation of a wide variety of common astrometric quantities and transformations. Available as Fortran or C source code.

   MICA - Multiyear Interactive Computer Almanac
   

   MICA is an easy-to-use program that provides much of the information printed in the annual Astronomical Almanac but covers a 10-year period (1990-1999). It also allows the user to tailor computations for a specific location and accepts input catalogs of celestial objects prepared by the user. Available for both PCs and Macs.

   http://aa.usno.navy.mil/AA/software
   

   A web version of MICA, providing some of the most common-used functions of MICA is available at: http://aa.usno.navy.mil/AA/data/docs/WebMICA_2.html/
   

3. Where can I find basic information about the Sun?

   The Students for the Exploration and Development of Space (SEDS) at the University of Arizona provide a collection of information about our Solar System intended for a general audience with little technical background. No special expertise or knowledge is needed; all technical and astronomical terms and proper names are defined in the glossary. The bulk of this material should be familiar to planetary scientists and astronomers but they may find a few interesting tidbits, too.

   You can find basic information about the Sun at:
   http://seds.lpl.arizona.edu/nineplanets/nineplanets/sol.html