Object name entry
- An object name may be entered instead of central coordinates for pointed
observation or plate look up.
- If an object name is entered, either the
Set of Identifications, Measurements and Bibiliography for Astronomical Data (SIMBAD)
database maintained by CDS, Strasbourg
or the NASA/IPAC
Extragalactic Database (NED) is queried for the corresponding coordinates, depending on which service is selected.
- SIMBAD recognizes standard astronomical nomenclature for stellar and non-stellar objects outside the Solar system. A summary
of all the catalogs in the SIMBAD database may be retrieved in LaTex format
from the SIMBAD
documentation page.
- NED recognizes standard astronomical nomenclature for extragalactic objects.
Although its domain is a subset of SIMBAD's, NED offers two advantages
for referencing extragalactic sources: its
coordinate resolver is not as particular about the formats of
requests and its response time is faster, especially for U. S. users.
- SIMBAD coordinate queries can require one minute or longer to complete;
please be patient.