Sky Charts
Catalog descriptions :
This program can use several catalogs to display the same object. Effectively each catalogs characteristics are interesting for a usage domain. You will not use the same data source to draw a constellation chart or a detailed plot of the stars of an open cluster.
As an example, using the "Guide Star Catalog" ( stars to magnitude 15 ) to draw a chart of constellation Cygnus is nonsense. The performance will be very poor as the program has to read more than 300,000 stars in the files to finally draw only a few hundred of the brighter. In addition the information quality (magnitude and position precision, lack of colour index or spectral class, and no references to other catalogues) are better in some other catalogs containing less stars but more information on 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 not used in drawing charts and are removed from the files. The format of the data is then converted to binary to obtain the smallest file possible ,for example,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 will help if you want 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 objects magnitude. You can use the "Catalog Selection" option for the stars and the nebulae.
Which catalog to choose ?
The following tables give you the catalogs characteristics and availability.
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Bright Star
Catalog
Valid field :
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This catalog contains 9096 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 :
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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 :
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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 :
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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 directely.
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CDrom : Tycho-2
Download :
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Tycho Input Catalog
Valid field :
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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 :
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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 :
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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 :
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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 :
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This catalog's contains 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 :
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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 :
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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 :
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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 :
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This catalog contain 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 :
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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 :
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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 :
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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 :
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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 :
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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 : |