Sky Charts
Catalog descriptions:
This program can use several different catalogs to display the same object. Each of these catalogs specializes in providing information specific for certain tasks. You would not use the same data source to draw a constellation chart as you would to draw a detailed star plot of an open cluster.
For example, using the "Guide Star Catalog" (stars to magnitude 15) to draw a chart of constellation Cygnus is not practical. The performance will suffer since the program must read data for more than 300,000 stars to draw only a few hundred of the brighter objects. In addition, the information quality (magnitude and position precision, lack of colour index or spectral class, lack of references to other catalogues) is better in other catalogs which may contain less stars but more information for each star. The "Bright Star Catalog" or "Sky2000 Master Catalog" are better suited for this task.
It is also necessary to limit the size of the files to a reasonable level. Some catalogs contain data which is not used for drawing charts. In order to create smaller, faster files, this program removes the unneeded data and saves the files in binary format. For example, when converted, the size of the "Sky2000 Master Catalog" drops from 132 Mb to 10 Mb, and the original 350 Mb "Tycho Catalog" to 24 Mb. You can find a description of the format for each file in the \cat directory. This information may be useful if you wish to use these files in your own programs.
It is easy to select the catalog to use for a selected viewing field and to limit the magnitude of the objects. You can use the "Catalog Selection" option for the stars and the nebulae. You can use the "Catalog Selection" option for the stars and the nebulae.
Which catalog to choose ?
The following table describes the characteristics and availability of a number of useful catalogs.
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Bright Star Catalog
Valid field: |
This catalog contains 9,096 stars to
magnitude 6.5 The following information is provided: Bright Star Catalog number Henry Draper Catalog number Flamsteed Catalog number Bayer Greek letter Constellation V magnitude b-v color index Spectral class from Morgan-Keenan Proper motion |
CDrom:
Download: |
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SKY2000 Master Star Catalog Version
2
Valid field: |
This catalog contains 300,000 stars to
magnitude 9. The following information is provided: Henry Draper Catalog number SAO Catalog number Durchmusterung Cat., zone and number V magnitude b-v color index Spectral class Proper motion Notes |
CDrom:
AstroCD n°3 (v1) Download: Sky2000 (v2) |
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Tycho Catalog
Valid field: |
This catalog contains 1,058,332 stars
to magnitude 11.5 . The following information is provided: Tycho Catalog number ( = GSC ) Bt Tycho magnitude Vt Tycho magnitude b-v color index Proper motion Notes |
CDrom:
Download: |
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Tycho-2 Catalog
Valid field: |
This catalog contains 2,557,501 stars
to magnitude 12 . The following information is provided: Tycho Catalog number ( = GSC ) Bt Tycho magnitude Vt Tycho magnitude b-v color index Proper motion
-The original CDrom may be used
directly. |
CDrom: Tycho-2
Download: |
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Tycho Input Catalog
Valid field: |
This catalog contains 3,154,204 stars
to magnitude 12.1 . The following information is provided: Tycho Catalog number ( = GSC ) B magnitude V magnitude class: 0=star 1=non-stellar gsc class 3 Notes |
CDrom:
Download: |
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The HST Guide Star Catalog
Valid field: |
This catalog contains 19,000,000 stars
to magnitude 15. The following information is provided: GSC Catalog number Magnitude Magnitude band Object class Multiple star flag Notes -The new version GSC-ACT is a recalibration performed by Bill Gray. Look at the detailed description. - The original FITS version on two CD may be used directely. - The "Compact" version from the CDS may be used directely - You can use the program "gscconv.exe" to copy to hard disk a compacted binary version from the original FITS CD for each declination band you want. |
FITS Version CDrom: ASP Download:
FITS Version 1.1
GSC-ACT 1.3
Internet Ressource |
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USNO- A2.0 U.S. Naval Obs.
Valid field: |
This catalog contains 526,280,881
stars to magnitude 20 . The following information is provided: Catalog number "Red" plate magnitude "Blue" plate magnitude Plate number Photometric quality flag s : -1 = appear in calibration catalog. Notes |
CDrom: Not generally available.
Download:
Internet Ressource |
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USNO- SA2.0 U.S. Naval Obs.
Valid field: |
This catalog is an extraction of
54,787,624 stars from USNO-A principally from
magnitude 16 to 19.
The CDrom is available free of charge from the US Naval Observatory. |
CDrom: USNO
Download: |
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General Catalog of Variable
Stars
New Catalog of Suspected Variable
Stars Extragalactic Variable Stars
Valid field: |
These catalogs contain 68,179
variable stars . The two circles indicate minimum and maximum magnitudes. The following information is provided: Constellation and star number Star name Constellation Variability type + Year for nova Magnitude band (beware some mag. are IR ) Magnitude at maxima Magnitude at minima Period in days Notes |
CDrom:
Download: |
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Washington Visual Double Star Catalog
2000
Valid field: |
This catalog contains 83,211 double
stars. A line indicates the direction and distance to second component. The following information is provided: Star name Component identification Magnitude of component 1 Magnitude of component 2 Date of first observation Angular Separation for Date1 Position Angle for Date1 Date of last observation Angular Separation for Date2 Position Angle for Date2 Spectral Types Notes Durchmusterung cat., zone and number Notes |
CDrom:
AstroCD n°3 Download: Multiples (WDS2000) |
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NGC 2000.0
Valid field: |
This catalog contains 13,226 nebulae
from the NGC and IC catalogs. The following information is provided: Object classification NGC/IC Catalogue number Constellation Largest dimension Magnitude Description Notes |
CDrom:
Download: |
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SAC 6.2
Valid field: |
This catalog contains 10,600
nebulae. The following information is provided: Object classification Catalogue number from various source Constellation Dimension Magnitude Surface brightness Description |
Download: |
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Lynds' Catalog of Bright
Nebulae
Valid field: |
This catalog contains 1,125 bright
nebulae. The drawings show colour and luminosity of the nebulae. The following information is provided: Lynds catalog number Region identification number Other name Largest dimension of nebula Smallest dimension of nebula Area of nebulosity in square degrees Color index Brightness scale Notes |
CDrom:
Download: |
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Third Reference Cat. of Bright
Galaxies
Valid field: |
This catalog contains 23,011
galaxies. The drawing shows the effective aperture, minor and major axis and orientation. Total and effective aperture color index are also used. The following information is provided: PGC catalog number Other name Morphological type Major axis at 25/'2 isophote Minor axis at 25/'2 isophote Total B magnitude Total b-v color index Mean B surface brightness Mean radial velocity (km/s) |
CDrom:
Download: |
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Catalog of Principal Galaxies
1999
Valid field: |
This catalog contains 193,898
galaxies. The drawing shows minor and major axis and orientation. The following information is provided: PGC catalog number Other name Morphological type Major axis at 25/'2 isophote Minor axis at 25/'2 isophote Total B magnitude Heliocentric radial velocity (km/s) |
CDrom:
AstroCD n°3 (PGC1989) Download: PGC (PGC1999) |
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Open Cluster Data 5th Edition
Valid field: |
This catalog contains 1,151 open
clusters. The following information is provided: Cluster number Other catalog codes Other catalog number Diameter Total magnitude Total color index b-v Number of stars Brightest star magnitude Trumpler class Distance in parsecs Age in years Notes |
CDrom:
Download: |
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Globular Clusters in the Milky
Way
Valid field: |
This catalog contains 147 globular
clusters. The drawing shows the core, half-mass and total diameter. The following information is provided: Cluster number Other name Total V magnitude Total b-v color index Central surface brightness in V band Integrated spectral type Total diameter ( arcminutes ) Half-mass diameter ( arcminutes ) Core diameter ( arcminutes ) |
CDrom:
Download: |
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Strasbourg- ESO Catalog of Galactic Planetary Nebulae
Valid field: |
This catalog contains 1,143 planetary
nebulae. The following information is provided: Nebulae designation Other name Morphology indicator Diameter (arcseconds) V magnitude Hbeta magnitude Central star B magnitude Central star V magnitude Notes |
CDrom:
Download: |