[Kstars-devel] Re: Support PPMXL?

[Akarsh Simha]

On Fri, Jul 22, 2011 at 07:02:20PM -0500, Akarsh Simha wrote:
> Hey
> 
> There's a relatively new catalog called PPMXL, which contains stars
> down to mag 20 with proper motions and J, H, K, B, R, I magnitudes
> (wherever available) as I'm given to understand:
> http://arxiv.org/abs/1003.5852
> 
> What do you think of supporting it in KStars? [Yes, I agree, we should
> fix existing bugs, but really, I'm lazy to work on those now-a-days
> :P]
> 
> 1. Do you know of any binary versions of the catalog? (Eg: in USNO-A
>    format, or maybe USNO-B format if there exists such a format)?
> 
> 2. Should we use KStars' binary format or some other binary format? I
>    would prefer we use an existing binary version of the catalog if it
>    does exist in the first place.
> 
> 3. Do you think implementing this is feasible / useful? [Say, as a
>    GSoC project]

BTW, Cartes du Ciel already supports it:
http://www.ap-i.net/skychart/en/news/ppmxl_catalog

Cartes seems to generate binaries / indexes from the ASCII catalog. It
would be nice if we supported the same format, so that users could
share the catalog across. Another option is to use the ASCII catalog
directly, but have some sort of an index that lets KStars find stars
real quick. Generating that might take a lot of CPU time as well, but
once generated, that should be hostable on KDE's servers.

Also, Cartes du Ciel is open source and runs off Linux and Mac, and we
can look at the sources / request the developer() for help.

I've noticed that no single astronomy program completely satisfies my
needs. Each one has its own share of awesome features, so I usually
use a mix of astronomy software to get my job done. It would be nice
if we could all collaborate by some means, to integrate our
applications better. I think supporting each others' catalog formats
is the first step.

It might be a nice idea to write another version of DeepStarComponent
and StarComponent (if required) that can support the "Declination
Zones" thingie, or come up with some sort of index file to convert
between that and HTM.

Regards
Akarsh