STARCAT

• Access to astronomical catalogues (retrieve data, display and/or write to file).
• Retrieval of files from the archives available at the CADC ,ESO and ST-ECF.

• The capability to transparently connect to either the ESOECF server or the CADC server.
• More catalogues with PreView data attached.
• New Spectra Preview advanced features
• New PlotCat command.
• The WWW based documentation interface.
• A connection to the SIMBAD astronomical name server at the CDS in Strasbourg, France.

CATALOGUES IN STARCAT

We also keep a Catalogue of Catalogues wich contains all catalogues available in Starcat and in the Centre de Donnees Stellaires in Strasbourg.

Some important catalogues within STARCAT include:

The HST Catalogue:

The HST catalogue is so large that many different views or screens of the contents are necessary. A series of menus provides access to these different screens.

The CFHT Catalogue:

The current CFHT catalogue is a very preliminary version. There are many screens, each of which provide a look a different parts of the catalogue.

The ESO Observation catalogue and schedule

Both the schedule of observations on ESO telescopes at The La Silla Observatory as well as the catalogue of observations performed with ESO's New Technology Telescope (NTT/EMMI) are available through STARCAT.

Astronomical Data Catalogues:

• important observation logs (IUE, EXOSAT as space--borne, and UKS, ESO, PALOMAR sky surveys as ground--based);
• object oriented catalogues (Bright Stars, ESO-LV, Veron93, white dwarfs, variable stars,...);
• astrometric catalogues (CADARS, PPM, FK5).
• The GSC (Guide Star Catalogue) containing more than 25 million entries is also available.

General Information Catalogues:

Included are an up to date list of all preprints received in the ESO library; a list of all astronomical observatories worldwide providing postal and e-mail addresses; a list of more than 5000 scientists worldwide; a list of the most common (official) abbreviations used in astronomy and their meaning.

ARCHIVES

• the CFHT archive at the CADC.
• non proprietary Hubble Space Telescope (HST) data,
• the IUE line-by-line spectra,
• IRAS Low Resolution Spectra
• the ESO-LV red and blue images of more than 14000 galaxies of the Southern sky,
• the ESO Science Archive (NTT EMMI/SUSI) at ESO.

THE HST INTERFACE

HOW TO GET STARCAT

COMMANDS AVAILABLE AT START UP

OPERATIONAL OVERVIEW

Proteus and TermWindows provide STARCAT with the following facilities:

• dialogue interaction or Prompt mode: programs are run on a ``question and answer'' basis;
• menu mode
  the user indicates a choosen item either by moving a highlight or underline through the items with the arrow keys or the spacebar, or by simply typing the associated key code displayed with each item (without pressing the return key);
• screen mode the user can enter the catalogue search constraints directly in the right field in the screen. This is much easier to use (intuitive) and reduces the number of key strokes.
• type -- ahead: several commands and subcommands can be given in one string, using the type-ahead feature when in prompt mode;
• command abbreviation:
  a command specifies the required program function; the user only needs to type enough first characters to distinguish the command from others;

• line editing: characters on the input line may be deleted, added etc. Press CTRL G or CTRL K to have an overview of all editing capabilities;
• error reporting if invalid data are entered, or the program encounters any error, an explanatory message is displayed, and the last prompt is repeated;
• file input the sequence of commands and replies to prompts that the user would normally type at the keyboard, may also be read from a file (readfile command). Also, the log file -- automatically generated at each STARCAT run to keep a trace of all activities and error messages -- can be re-executed and used as an input to STARCAT thanks to the readfile command.

CADC Main Index