ASCII Catalogs

This format is so general than most lists of right ascensions and declinations can be turned into a searchable file simply by adding two lines at the top of the file. If the RA and Dec are not in any of the first three columns of the file, the WCSTools task getcol can be used to extract the necessary columns into a new file.

The first line of an ASCII catalog contains a single-word file name, optionally followed by a series of switches describing the contents and format of the following data. This file name will optionally appear with the object number whenever it is printed. The second line is a description of the catalog with up to 64 characters. The third and following lines contain the catalog entries, one per line. The default format is the following:

    one-word_catalog_name[/flag1][/flag2]...[/flagn]
    one-line catalog description
    [id] RA(hh.mmsssss) Dec(dd.mmssss) [magnitude] [epoch(yyyy.mmdd)] [name]
or  [id] RA(hh:mm:ss.sss) Dec(dd:mm:ss.ss) [magnitude] [epoch(yyyy.mmdd)] [name]
or  [id] RA(hh mm ss.sss) Dec(dd mm ss.ss) [magnitude] [epoch(yyyy.mmdd)] [name](if /t switch is set)
or  [id] RA(dd.ddddddd) Dec(dd.dddddd) [magnitude] [epoch(yyyy.mmdd)] [name] (if /d switch is set)
    ...

Entities on a line may be separated by spaces, commas, or tabs. In this format, the name is assumed to be everything between the magnitude and the end of the line. Both colons and periods may be used as separators.

ASCII Catalogs

ASCII Catalog Switches

ASCII Catalog Examples

Last updated 14 March 2022 by Jessica Mink, SAO Telescope Data Center,