Advanced Searches

Finding by Object Type

Objects are categorized by type in the Find by Name or Catalog Number list on the Advanced tab of the Find window.

A simple way to find any object is to first determine its type (is the object a star, galaxy, cluster or other?). Next, determine what catalog you want to search and then select the name of the object from the catalog list. The table below lists each category in the Find tree list.

Object Type	Catalog/Cross Reference	Description
Asterisms		Lists the names of many common asterisms.
Constellations		Lists the names of the 88 constellations.
Non-stellar Objects		Lists databases of non-stellar objects.
	Caldwell	Caldwell Catalog objects.
	Common Names	Names of common non-stellar objects.
	Herschel	Herschel 400 catalog.
	IC	Index Catalog.
	Lorenzin	Tomm Lorenzin Catalog.
	Messier	Messier Catalog.
	NGC	New General Catalogue.
	PGC	Principal Catalog of Galaxies.
	PGC cross reference	Cross references to the Principal Catalog of Galaxies.
	PLN	Planetary Nebulae.
	SAC*	Saguaro Astronomy Club Deep Space Object catalog.
Sky Databases (SDBs)	Optional (non-core) databases	These optional Sky Databases (SDBs) can be turned on from the *Database Manager* command in the *Input* menu.
Solar System		Objects within our solar system.
	Meteor Shower Radiants	Locations of meteor showers.
	Moon	Earth’s Moon.
	Planets (alphabetical)	Earth Jupiter Mars Mercury Neptune Saturn Uranus Venus
	Satellites	Man-made satellites that have been imported from the Satellites window on the Input menu.
	Small Solar System Bodies	Objects that are classified as Small Solar System Bodies by the IAU.

		Asteroids (Large Database): Names of asteroids that have been imported from the Large Database tab on the Small Solar System Bodies windows (Input menu).
		Asteroids (Small Database): Names of asteroids that have been imported from the Small Database tab on the Small Solar System Bodies windows (Input menu).
		Comets: Names of comets selected in the Comet tab on the Small Solar System Objects window (Input menu).
	Dwarf Planets	Pluto
	Sun	The Sun.
Stellar Objects		Lists databases of stars.
	Bayer	Bayer catalog designations.
	Common name	Common star names.
	DM	Bonner Durchmusterung number.
	Flamsteed	Flamsteed designations.
	GCVS	General Catalog of Variable Stars.
	GSC	Guide Star Catalog.
	HD	Henry Draper Number.
	NSV	Catalog of Variable Stars.
	SAO	Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory.
	Struve	Struve Catalog stars.
	WDS	Washington Double Star catalog.

SAC Cross References

The Saguaro Astronomy Club Database contains cross references to the astronomical catalogs in the table below.

Catalog Name	SAC Cross Reference
Third Cambridge Catalog of Radio Wave Sources	3C
George Abell (planetary nebulae and galaxy clusters)	Abell
Aitken Double Star catalog	ADS
Arp-Madore (globular clusters)	AM
(open clusters)	Antalova
Apriamasvili (planetary nebulae)	Ap
Halton Arp (interacting galaxies)	Arp
Barkhatova (open clusters)	Bark
Barnard (dark nebulae)	B
(open clusters)	Basel
Bonner Durchmusterung (stars)	BD
Berkeley (open clusters)	Berk
Bernes (dark nebulae)	Be
Biurakan (open clusters)	Biur
(open clusters)	Blanco
(open clusters)	Bochum
Cederblad (bright nebulae)	Ced
Catalog of Galaxies and Clusters of Galaxies	CGCG
Collinder (open clusters)	Cr
(open clusters)	Czernik
David Dunlap Observatory (dwarf galaxies)	DDO
Dolidze (open clusters)	Do
Dolidze-Dzimselejsvili (open clusters)	DoDz
Dunlap (Southern objects of all types)	Dun
European Southern Observatory (Southern objects)	ESO
Feinstein (open clusters)	Fein
(open clusters)	Frolov
(bright nebulae)	Gum
William Herschel (globular clusters)	H
(open clusters)	Haffner
(open clusters)	Harvard
Havermeyer and Moffat (open clusters)	Hav-Moffat
Henize (planetary nebulae)	He
(open clusters)	Hogg
Holmberg (galaxies)	Ho
Haute Provence (globular clusters)	HP
Humason (planetary nebulae)	Hu
1st and 2nd Index Catalogs to the NGC (All types of objects except dark nebulae)	IC
Iskudarian (open clusters)	Isk
Jonckheere (planetary nebulae)	J
Kohoutek (planetary nebulae)	K
Father Lucian Kemble (asterisms)	Kemble
(open clusters)	King
Krasnogorskaja (planetary nebulae)	Kr
Lacaille (globular clusters)	Lac
(open clusters)	Loden
Lynds (bright nebula)	LBN
Lynds (dark nebulae)	LDN
Northern Proper Motion, 1st part, Galaxies	NPM1G
(open clusters)	Lynga
Messier (all types of objects except dark nebula)	M
Morphological Catalog of Galaxies	MCG
Merrill (planetary nebulae)	Me
Markarian (open clusters and galaxies)	Mrk
Melotte (open clusters)	Mel
Minkowski (planetary nebulae)	M1 thru M4
New galaxies in the Revised Shapley-Ames Catalog	New
New General Catalogue of Nebulae & Clusters of Stars. (All types of objects except dark nebulae)	NGC
Palomar (globular clusters)	Pal
Peimbert and Costero (planetary nebulae)	PC
(open clusters)	Pismis
Perek & Kohoutek (planetary nebulae)	PK
Rodgers, Campbell, & Whiteoak (bright nebulae)	RCW
(open clusters)	Roslund
Ruprecht (open clusters)	Ru
Sandqvist (dark nebulae)	Sa
(open clusters)	Sher
Sharpless (bright nebulae)	Sh
Sandqvist & Lindroos (dark nebulae)	SL
Shapley & Lindsay (clusters in LMC)	SL
Stephenson (open clusters)	Steph
(open clusters)	Stock
Terzan (globular clusters)	Ter
(open clusters)	Tombaugh
Tonantzintla (globular clusters)	Ton
Trumpler (open clusters)	Tr
Catalog of selected Non-UGC galaxies	UA
Uppsala General Catalog (galaxies)	UGC
United Kingdom Schmidt (globular clusters)	UKS
(open clusters)	Upgren
Vorontsov-Velyaminov (interacting galaxies)	VV
van den Bergh (open clusters, bright nebulae)	vdB
van den Bergh & Herbst (bright nebulae)	vdBH
van den Bergh-Hagen (open clusters)	vdB-Ha
Vyssotsky (planetary nebulae)	Vy
(open clusters)	Waterloo
Double Star (Messier 40)	Winnecke
Zwicky (galaxies)	ZWG

To locate objects in the SAC, in the Search For text input on the Find window, enter SAC <Cross Reference> <Catalog Number> and then click the Find button. For example, entering the text SAC Cr 33 locates this open cluster in the Collinder catalog.

Finding by Catalog Designation

Another way to find an object is to enter its catalog designation. Leading zeroes are not required; the search routine automatically adds them. Typing just the catalog abbreviation (with no number) lists the first 10 items in the catalog

The Tycho catalog’s designers indexed it with the corresponding GSC numbers. We have therefore not included it as a searchable catalog.

Searching Catalogs by Cross Reference

Objects can be located using catalog designations that are cross referenced to the source catalog. The table below lists the available cross-reference catalogs and their prefixes, along with the number of galaxies in the catalog (Count) and an example of the correct format to use when search for an object in this catalog.

See “Catalog Cross References” in “Appendix A: Databases and Cross References” on page 784 for a list of these catalogs.

More Find Examples

The following tables show a variety of useful search queries for the Locate By Name text box.

Star Name	Type of Query
Polaris	Common star name
SAO 308	Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory star
GSC 4628:237	Guide Star Catalog number
HIP 11767	Hipparcos identifier
PPM 431	Positions and Proper Motions (PPM) number
HD 8890	Henry Draper number
B+88 8	Bonner Durchmusterung catalog
C-34 12784	Cordoba Durchmusterung catalog
P-42 7856	Cape Durchmusterung catalog

Flamsteed/Bayer (use constellation abbreviation)	Result
ALPHA UMI	(Alpha Ursae Minoris)
25 PSI 1 ORI	25 Psi 1 Orionis

Non-stellar Objects	Result
Great Nebula in Andromeda	Common non-stellar object name
M31	M31 Messier Object
NGC 224	NGC 224 in the New General Catalog
IC 434	IC 434 in the Index Catalog
PGC 18508	Principal Galaxies Catalog
GCVS GK ORI	General Catalog of Variable Stars
NSV	New Suspected Variable Catalog
PLN 194+2.1	Planetary Nebula

Solar System Objects	Result
Saturn	Finds Saturn
Wild 4	Finds the comet named "Wild 4"
Ceres	Finds small database asteroid named "1 Ceres"
MPL 835 OLIVIA	"MPL" prefix finds that asteroid (or minor planet) named "835 Olivia" from the large asteroid database.

Uranometria Star Charts	Result
URA 36	Centers on Uranometria star chart number 36
URA 36+	Centers on Uranometria star chart number 36 and sets Uranometria-like chart attributes.

Satellites/Spacecraft	Result
SAT COSMOS 100	Searches for the satellite named "Cosmos 100"

Miscellaneous Objects	Result
Zenith	Moves to 90 degrees altitude
AAVSO A	Sets field width to AAVSO type A (accepts a-g)
RA decimal hours, Dec decimal degrees	Enter any RA, Dec coordinate pair, separated by a comma and in decimal format and click the *Find* button to locate this position on the Sky Chart and display information about it in the *Object Information* window. For example, enter *12.3, 13.4* to locate this coordinate on the Sky Chart.
RA hours RA minutes RA seconds, Dec degrees Dec minutes Dec seconds	Enter any RA, Dec (2000.0) coordinate pair, separated by a comma, in sexagesimal format, and click the *Find* button to locate this position on the Sky Chart display information about it in the *Object Information* window. For example, enter *10h 26m 36.2s, 40d 20m 22.8s* to locate this coordinate on the Sky Chart. See Finding by Equatorial Coordinate below for more information.
Z2.5	Zooms to a 2.5-degree field of view
Z2.5m	Zooms to a 2.5-minute field of view
Z200s	Zooms to 200 arcsecond field of view
SCALE 2.5	Adjusts the sky chart so that the scale is 2.5 arcseconds/pixel

Finding by Equatorial Coordinate

The Sky Chart can be centered on a RA, Dec coordinate (2000.0) using either decimal or sexagesimal format.

Decimal format

Enter any RA, Dec coordinate pair, separated by a comma and in decimal format and click the Find button to locate this position on the Sky Chart and display information about it in the Object Information window.

For example, enter 12.38893, 13.43345 and then click the Find button to locate this coordinate on the Sky Chart.

Sexagesimal format

Enter any RA, Dec coordinate pair, separated by a comma, in sexagesimal format:

UUh VVm WWs, XXd YYm ZZs

Each component is described in the table below.

Designation	Description
UU	A number between 0-23 specifying the hours of RA.
h	The lower-case letter “h” specifying the preceding number is RA hours.
VV	A number between 0-59 specifying the minutes of RA.
m	The lower-case letter “m” specifying the preceding number is RA minutes.
WW	A number between 0-59.99999 specifying the seconds of RA.
s	The lower-case letter “s” specifying the preceding number is RA seconds,
,	A comma character (“,”) separates the RA coordinate from the Dec coordinate.
XX	A number between 0-89 specifying the degrees of declination.
d	The lower-case letter “d” specifying the preceding number represents degrees of declination.
YY	A number between 0-59 specifying the minutes of declination.
m	The lower-case letter “m” specifying the preceding number represents arcminutes of declination.
ZZ	A number between 0-59.99 specifying the seconds of declination.
s	The second lower-case letter “s” specifies the preceding number represents arcseconds of declination.

Here is an example sexagesimal format:

10h 12m 32.22s, -80d 12m 44.3s

Finding My Chart Elements

My Chart Elements must be located using the Input > My Chart Elements command. On the My Chart Elements window, highlight the desired element, and click the Center button. See page 84 for more information.

Logging Observations

Click the Log tab on the Find window to view the observing log and notes for this object.

Figure 35: The Log tab on the Find window showing an observation notes for a star.

Click the Add or Edit Observations button to show the Observer Log window that allows you to add notes, a seeing scale, rating, and other information for the current object, and view a table of your observations.

Note: The object observed graphic (above) appears on the Log tab for objects that have a recorded observation.

Figure 36: Observer Log window.

Observations are stored in XML format in the Observer Log folder located in the Application Support folder (page 28). See “Add Observing Notes (Add to Observer Log)” on page 305 for more information about Observer Logs.