For one thing, Vizier was down or slow or in maintenance today and I needed it for Barnard and kept timing out or getting an incomplete response from Vizier, and of course none of the mirrors would work either.
For another thing, having the catalog files locally is very handy for quick lookups and analysis across catalogs with command line tools -- otherwise I have to go to Vizier or SIMBAD or CDS in a browser and it can be slower.
Sharpless 2, Barnard, LBN, LDN, CGPN and Arp (and many star catalogs) are all Vizier query catalogs in PixInsight, meaning they cache bits as needed but generally the catalogs stay at Vizier and PixInsight just queries as needed per astrometric image solution.
I started working on Barnard from the Vizier sources and it is a fascinating read filled with observational remarks by E.E. Barnard who was imaging Rho Ophiuchi for 7.5 hours in the 1890s! Anyway, his catalog has some discontinuities because it was published in two parts, completed by his daughter after his death.
Many of the original Barnard entries do not have angular dimensions listed in the usual columns, but they do have lengthy descriptions in the remarks that give additional context for angular dimensions and position angles, but someone has to go cull it out and then, probably good idea to cross-reference with Lynds Dark Nebula, as she came along several decades later and incorporated Barnard.
Work in progress! Some of the catalogs are easier to plug and play than others.
For one thing, Vizier was down or slow or in maintenance today and I needed it for Barnard and kept timing out or getting an incomplete response from Vizier, and of course none of the mirrors would work either.
For another thing, having the catalog files locally is very handy for quick lookups and analysis across catalogs with command line tools -- otherwise I have to go to Vizier or SIMBAD or CDS in a browser and it can be slower.
Sharpless 2, Barnard, LBN, LDN, CGPN and Arp (and many star catalogs) are all Vizier query catalogs in PixInsight, meaning they cache bits as needed but generally the catalogs stay at Vizier and PixInsight just queries as needed per astrometric image solution.
I started working on Barnard from the Vizier sources and it is a fascinating read filled with observational remarks by E.E. Barnard who was imaging Rho Ophiuchi for 7.5 hours in the 1890s! Anyway, his catalog has some discontinuities because it was published in two parts, completed by his daughter after his death.
Many of the original Barnard entries do not have angular dimensions listed in the usual columns, but they do have lengthy descriptions in the remarks that give additional context for angular dimensions and position angles, but someone has to go cull it out and then, probably good idea to cross-reference with Lynds Dark Nebula, as she came along several decades later and incorporated Barnard.
Work in progress! Some of the catalogs are easier to plug and play than others.