[Kstars-devel] updating star names

[Jason Harris]

Hi Milton,

I apologize for not contacting you much earlier about this; sometimes things 
have a way of slipping through the cracks.  What is the status of your effort 
to improve the stars data for KStars?  I'd hate your work to have been 
wasted; is it in a state where we can get it added to KStars?

thanks again,

Jason

On Tuesday 07 June 2005 23:31, mph wrote:
> Hi Jason,
>
> A few more questions!!
>
> > Sorry about that.  Posting URLs to the list is just fine, or you could
> > send the file as an attachment (as long as it isn't too big).
>
> For my own edification, what is "too big"?  50K?  100K?
>
> > Version number isn't necessary; the version control is handled by the SVN
> > server (note that KDE just switched from CVS to SVN...they are very
> > similar). Once we work out all the issues, you can submit a final version
> > of hip001.dat tot he list, and I can commit it to SVN for you.  If you
> > want to have the freedom to commit to the server yourself, we can
> > eventually get you an SVN account.
>
> My guess would be that I wouldn't need it as data changes would be
> (hopefully) rare.
>
> > This star was named by astronaut Virgil Grissom (or by one of his
> > colleagues). The Apollo I crew was going to use this star for navigation.
> > It's Grissom's middle name backwards.
> > http://www.space.com/spacewatch/star_names_030829.html
>
> Great article.  I had wondered about Regor....  Thanks!
>
> > > xi Her: Marfik (I'm familiar using it for kappa Her)
> >
> > Looks like Kappa is right:
> > http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hercules_(constellation)
> >
> > > Al Nair : alp Ind (I'm only familiar for alpha Gru)
> >
> > Right again:
> > http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grus_(constellation)
> >
> > but it looks like it is sometimes used for alpha Indi:
> > http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Indus_(constellation)
>
> I'll make these changes.  Thanks..
>
> > > This review also brought up for me a concern about using
> > > Bayer/Flamsteed designations as a primary key for our data.  These
> > > designations are not unique, and it seems more appropriate to use the
> > > HIP number if we are using the HIP database.  I'm not sure if it is
> > > worth the change, but problems can arise.  Bayer used his designations
> > > for multiple stars.  (Pi Ori originally referred to 6 different
> > > stars!).  HD162003 and HD162004 are both psi Dra (or 31 Dra if you use
> > > Flamsteed).  This also raises questions about whether alpha1 or alpha2
> > > in a binary pair should bear the name for a pair of stars. (I vote for
> > > the brighter one, but that wasn't consistent in our data)
> >
> > This is a good point; we should just use the HIP sequence number
> > internally.
>
> I assume that that means we need to rebuild all the hip files to include
> HIP sequence numbers so they can be read in as the data is read.  I can do
> this as I review the data (I'm working on hip002.dat).  What should the
> format be? First seven characters in each line as the HIP number?  Should
> this be the 'final version' you mentioned above or a new 'branch'?
>
> In a related question, if I do rebuild the database do you still want it in
> the order of increasing magnitude?  I'm assuming that this is the most
> efficient order in terms of the display routines.
>
> > > I'm not sure if the telescope users would want it, but I also thought
> > > it might be nice to be able to search based on HIP or HD number.  Of
> > > course, the data structures would have to be rewritten which could be a
> > > mess.  If someone does want to tackle it, I'd be happy to work on the
> > > data portion.
> >
> > Would be nice.  I'd be willing to add it to the code.  I think the HD
> > numbers are more widely used than the HIP numbers.
>
> Would you want me to include HD numbers in a rebuilt database?  What format
> would you want?  I get the impression that HD numbers ARE used by telescope
> users.  I have been surprised to find stars with HD numbers (like HD
> 213052) that are not in the Hipparcos survey which I understand is newer
> and more accurate with more stars if you include Tycho.  I might need some
> help learning about all these catalogs (being more of a naked-eye person). 
> If anyone has a reference, let me know.
>
> Finally, I am slowing working on the data for the idea I suggested of
> putting in alternative names like the Ptolemaic descriptions.  (that could
> be particularly useful for the clines review)  Given the above proposed
> changes, should I make the file in the format (HIP number:name) or (Bayer
> designation:name)?
>
> -milton
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