Data Wizard command (Data menu)

The Data Wizard command provides options for defining custom database queries.

TheSky6's Data Wizard can:

• Create custom reports of various celestial object properties. Examples include creating a list of all large and bright galaxies and nebula currently above the horizon, or show me all NGC objects in the constellation Orion, sorted by size.

• Create ephemeredes of solar system objects such as “show me the rise and set times of all planets for each day of the month," or "what interesting objects are out tonight?"

• Scroll through data lists and display pictures of objects as they are highlighted. For example you could create a list of all galaxies larger than 10 arcminutes in size, then sort them by size. Using the Frame Object option, show a picture of each one as the list is scrolled.

• Generate Observatory Scripts for use with Orchestrate such as extracting the coordinate data from the Mosaic tool and creating a script that will take a CCD Image at each position.

• Export data to a text file or to the clipboard.

• Draw paths between the objects in a data list.

• Label objects in a data list.

Running a Query

To run a database query, click Query | Run or click Run.

The time required to complete a query depends on the size of the selected databases and the complexity of the query. While the query is running, a progress indicator appears at the bottom of the Query Results dialog box.

The Run button changes to Abort while the query is running to allow the termination of the query. If the attribute filters include items that must be computed or items that are in external databases, the query run time is greatly increased.

For example, a query on the 7,840 objects included in the NGC catalog based on the size (major axis) of the objects will be completed very quickly, but if the attribute filters include a string comparison of the constellations, more disk access is required and the query will take considerably longer. On larger databases such as the entire PGC catalog of nearly one million objects, queries can take several minutes to complete and longer on slower computers.

Time and Database Queries

With the large number of options available, the results of a query may seem incorrect until you examine the interaction of the various filters. This is especially true when the filters are time dependent, like Altitude and Azimuth and Transit time. If you run a query that passes only those object times with a Transit time greater than 20 hours (10:00 p.m.) or a Transit time less than 2 (2:00 a.m.) then you would expect a list of objects centered around the Meridian. If you add the filter “Altitude greater than 25 degrees”, the results may be confusing if the query is run with the current time set to 10:00 a.m. At 10:00 a.m, none or very few of the objects that transit between 10:00 and 2:00 will be above 25 degrees, and the list may be empty.

Therefore it is a good idea to place the Time dialog box on screen when running a query so that you can quickly select the desired time.

Frame Object

Mark this option to center the selected objects (in the Object Name report) on the Virtual Sky.

Show Information

Mark this option to show the Object Information dialog box for the selected objects.

Objects Found

Lists the number of objects located by running the current database query.

Run/Abort

Click this button to execute the current database query. The button's text changes to Abort while queries are in progress. Click Abort to end the query.