Astronomical catalog 969551 223311027 2008-07-03T14:38:21Z Jagged 85 468111 /* Catalogs of historical importance */ added Book of Fixed Stars An '''astronomical catalog''' or '''catalogue''' is a list or tabulation of [[astronomical object]]s, typically grouped together because they share a common type, morphology, origin, means of detection, or method of discovery. Astronomical catalogs are usually the result of an [[astronomical surveys|astronomical survey]] of some kind. == Catalogs of historical importance == * [[Abd al-Rahman al-Sufi|Azophi]]'s ''[[Book of Fixed Stars]]'', published in 964, describes more than a thousand stars in detail and provides the first descriptions of [[Andromeda Galaxy]]<ref name="NSOG">{{cite book |last= Kepple |first= George Robert |coauthors= Glen W. Sanner |title= The Night Sky Observer's Guide, Volume 1 |publisher= Willmann-Bell, Inc. |year= 1998 |id= ISBN 0-943396-58-1 |pages=18}}</ref> and the [[Large Magellanic Cloud]].<ref name="obspm">{{cite web | title=Observatoire de Paris (Abd-al-Rahman Al Sufi) | url=http://messier.obspm.fr/xtra/Bios/alsufi.html | accessdate=2007-04-19 }}</ref><ref name="obspm2">{{cite web | title=Observatoire de Paris (LMC) | url=http://messier.obspm.fr/xtra/ngc/lmc.html | accessdate=2007-04-19 }}</ref> * [[Johann Bayer]]'s [[Uranometria]] [[Bayer designations|star atlas]] was published in 1603 with over 1200 stars. Names are made of greek letters combined with constellation name, for example [[Alpha Centauri]]. * [[John Flamsteed]]'s [[Historia coelestis Britannica]] [[Flamsteed designation|star atlas]], published in 1725, lists stars using 2 digit numbers combined with constellation, for example [[61 Cygni]]. * [[Charles Messier|Messier]] [[Messier object|Catalog]] - ''[[Nebulae and Star Clusters]]'' was published in 1781, with objects [[List of Messier objects|M1 — M110]]. * [[New General Catalogue]] compiled in the 1880s, lists objects [[List of NGC objects|NGC 0001 — NGC 7840]]. * [[Henry Draper]] [[Henry Draper Catalog|Catalog]] published between 1918 and 1924, lists more than 225,000 of the brightest stars, named using HD followed by a 6-digit number. * Sir [[Patrick Moore]] compiled the [[Caldwell catalogue]] in 1995 to complement the Messier catalog, listing 109 bright star clusters, nebulae, and galaxies named C1 to C109. * [[2MASS]] is the most ambitious project to map the night sky to date. Goals included first detection of brown dwarfs, an extensive survey of low mass stars, and cataloging of all detected stars and galaxies. More than 300 million point sources and 1 million extended sources were catalogued. == Widely used astronomical catalogs == * [[Hipparcos Catalogue]] - containing data for about 118,000 stars. * [[Tycho-2 Catalogue]] - containing data for about 2,500,000 stars. * USNO B1.0 (1,042,618,261 stars/galaxies) * 6th Orbit Catalog (Orbital elements for double/multiple star systems) * [[Washington Double Star Catalog]] * [[Yale Bright Star]] Catalog ==See also== * [[List of astronomical catalogues]] * [[Star catalogue]] discusses various types in more detail * [[Astrograph]] - a type of instrument used to produce astronomical catalogues. == External links == * [http://cdsweb.u-strasbg.fr/cats/Cats.htx Most astronomical catalogues can be queried electronically here] *[http://www.space-and-telescope.com/CaldwellObjects.aspx Clickable Caldwell Object table]<!-- contains links back to Wikipedia articles --> *[http://www.space-and-telescope.com/MessierObjects.aspx Clickable Messier Object table]<!-- contains links back to Wikipedia articles --> {{astronomical-catalogue-stub}} [[Category:Astronomical catalogues| ]] [[ca:Catàleg astronòmic]] [[eo:Katalogo (astronomio)]] [[fr:Catalogue astronomique]] [[gl:Catálogo astronómico]] [[hr:Katalozi objekata dalekog svemira]] [[ja:天体カタログ]] [[pt:Catálogo astronômico]] [[uk:Астрономічні каталоги]] [[sk:Astronomický katalóg]]