[...]
> stellation is which ("Big Dipper? I'm more interested in LTT 5721
SIMBAD's a nice, handy database on stars with which you can dig up all kinds
of info with. Another resource for those of you who want to find out various
tidbit information on a given star for your fave
empire/stellar government. :) It's not the end-all be-all of databases
for stars, but it is fairly comprehensive:
http://simbad.u-strasbg.fr/Simbad
But as it is geared for the more professional astronomer some info in
it may seem a bit esoteric. ;-)
(ps: earlier-mentioned star is Proxima Centauri)
Mk
__......................................................................
...__
McCoy: "Angry, Mr Spock? Or frustrated, perhaps?"
Spock: "Such emotions are foreign to me. I am merely testing the strength of
the door."
McCoy: "For the 15th time?"
- ST:TOS, 'Bread & Circuses'
At 1:14 PM -0500 11/2/99, Do not pass when solid yellow line is on
> your side of the road wrote:
I'll add it to my bookmarks in case this comes up again.
> (ps: earlier-mentioned star is Proxima Centauri)
Of course!
On Tue, 2 Nov 1999, Do not pass when solid yellow line is on your side
> of the road wrote:
> [...]
the data in SIMBAD would make life for me sooo much easier; i could bung
in hipparcos/tycho identifiers and get out thrilling names like 'Wolf
238' and 'Alpha Centauri' instead of dull old 'HIP33285'. sadly (quoting from
their web page)...
"SIMBAD is a charged service: the users contribute by covering partly the cost
of the resources involved in the database service."
so i can't just waltz on in.
"Starting January 1995, access to the SIMBAD astronomical database is provided
free of charge to a large part of the European astronomical community: all
bona fide scientists affiliated to astronomical research institutions in ESO
or ESA member states."
sadly, i am nowhere near being a bona fide astronomer; i don't even know a
bona fide astronomer.
"SIMBAD is free of charge for U.S. users, thanks to an agreement with NASA."
i assume this means bona fide astronomers in the US, rather than j random
netizen.
anyway, simbad is not really accessible to most people. however, it might well
be one day.
tom