Data description

Data Formats

Data is provided in GeoJSON (*.geojson) and GeoPackage (*.gpkg) format. Additionally, for GeoJSON formats a minified version (*.min.geojson) is also provided.

All data complies with the GeoJSON format (provided in EPSG:4326, bounded to \([-180, -90, 180, 90]\) and geometries valid as per ST_IsValid on GEOS 3.9.3).

All data provided at J2000 epoch, positions converted from 0…24h right ascension to -180…180 degrees longitude as per GeoJSON requirements, so 0…12h becomes 0…180 degrees, and 12…24h becomes -180…0 degrees.

Distribution

The data can be accessed from several API endpoints:

<!-- From GitHub -->
https://raw.githubusercontent.com/dieghernan/celestial_data/main/data/mw.min.geojson

<!-- From the Website -->
https://dieghernan.github.io/celestial_data/data/mw.min.geojson

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Description

Asterisms

asterisms.<data format> (MULTILINESTRING) with 65 objects the following attributes:

• id: Name without spaces

• n: Proper name

• es: Proper name in Spanish

• p: Priority 1..6 (~Average brightness)

• loc_lon, loc_lat: Center location of name string

Constellations

constellations.<data format> (POINT) with 89 objects. Additionally a constellations.csv file with the data (no coordinates) is also provided:

• id: 3-letter designator

• name: full IAU name

• desig: 3-letter designator again

• gen: genitive for naming stars.

• rank: 1-3 for differential name display by size/brightness

• en: English name … and names in 18 further languages

• display_ra, display_dec, display_scale: for single constellation display

Traditional Chinese constellations

constellations.cn.<data format> (POINT) with 312 objects. Additionally a constellations.cn.csv file with the data (no coordinates) is also provided:

• id: numerical id
• name: Chinese name
• en: English translation
• pinyin: pinyin transcription
• desig: also Chinese name, for compatibility
• rank: so far only 1; differential name display by size/brightness
• display_ra, display_dec, display_scale: for single constellation display

Constellation boundaries

constellations.borders.<data format> (MULTILINESTRING) with 257 objects.

• ids: String with format “3-letter designator A, 3-letter designator B” identifying the constellations surrounding the border.

constellations.bounds.<data format> (MULTIPOLYGON) with 89 objects. See Constellation lines for field descriptions.

Traditional Chinese constellations

constellations.borders.cn.<data format> (LINESTRING) with 84 objects.

• ids: border id.

constellations.bounds.cn.<data format> (POLYGON) with 28 objects. See Constellation lines for field descriptions.

Constellation lines

constellations.lines.<data format> (MULTILINESTRING) with 89 objects.

• id: 3-letter designator

• rank: 1-3 for differential name display by size/brightness

• name: full IAU name

Traditional Chinese constellations

constellations.lines.cn.<data format> (MULTILINESTRING) with 255 objects¹:

• id: numerical id
• rank: so far only 1; differential name display by size/brightness
• name: Chinese name
• en: English translation

DSOs

Deep Space Objects

DSOnames

dsonames.csv with 724 rows:

• id: Short designator

• name: Proper name… and names in several languages.

Traditional Chinese DSO names

dsonames.cn.<data format> with 6 rows

• id: Hipparcos number
• name: Chinese name
• desig: IAU designation
• en: English translation
• pinyin: Pinyin transcription

DSOs

Several files:

• dsos.6.<data format>, dsos.14.<data format>, dsos.20.<data format>: the number indicates limit magnitude.

• dsos.bright.<data format>: hand selected DSOs.

• lg.<data format>: Local group .

• messier.<data format> Messier objects.

All objects are POINT:

• id: Short designator

• desig: Designator

• type: Object type: gg (galaxy cluster), g: (galaxy), s: (spiral galaxy), s0: (lenticular gal.), sd: (dwarf spheroidal gal.), i: (irregular gal.), e: (elliptical gal.), oc: (open cluster), gc: (globular cluster), dn: (dark nebula), bn: (bright nebula), sfr: (star forming region), rn: (reflection nebula), en: (emission nebula), pn: (planetary nebula), snr: (supernova remnant).

• morph: Morphology classification depending on type

• mag: Apparent magnitude, 999 if n.a.

• dim: Angular dimensions in arcminutes

• bv: Blue minus visual magnitude color inder (b-v)

• br: Relative brightness to magnitude 0, computed as \(100^{-1 * mag / 5}\)

• name: Proper name

Additional fields on lg.<data format>:

• sub: Sub group membership: MW|M31|N3109|LG (Milky Way, Andromeda, NGC 3109, gen. LG)

• pop: MW populations OH|YH|BD (Old halo, young halo, bulge & disk), M31 populations M31|GP (gen. M31, great plane)

• str: Tidal streams Mag|Sgr|CMa|FLS (Magellanic Stream, Sagittarius Stream, Canis Major/Monoceros Stream, Fornax-Leo-Sculptor Great Circle)

Stars

Starnames

starnames.csv: Magnitude independent, all stars with a name/designation other than HIP/HD

• id: Hipparcos number
• name: , Proper name and names in 17 further languages
• desig: , Standard designation, first from list below
• bayer: , Bayer
• flam: , Flamsteed
• var: , Variable star
• gliese: , Gliese
• hd: , Henry Draper
• hip: Hipparcos number again

Traditional Chinese star names

starnames.cn.<data format> with 3056 rows

• id: Hipparcos number
• name: Chinese name
• desig: IAU designation
• en: English translation
• pinyin: Pinyin transcription

Stars

stars.6.<data format>, stars.8.<data format>, stars.14.<data format>: the number indicates limit magnitude:

• id: Short designator

• mag: Apparent magnitude, 999 if n.a.

• bv: b-v color index.

• br: Relative brightness to magnitude 0, computed as \(100^{-1 * mag / 5}\)

• name: Proper name

Milky Way

mw.<data format> with 5 rows:

• id: Milky Way outlines in 5 brightness steps (ol1-ol5).