Website announce: Consolidated DSO Catalogues - Clark, Herschel 400, Messier and Caldwell

Website announce: Consolidated DSO Catalogues - Clark, Herschel 400,
Messier and Caldwell

http://members.csolutions.net/fisher...efProject.html

This amatuer astronomy site contains 3D VRML and 2D renderings of the
Milky Way Galaxy and the Virgo local supercluster based on a
consolidated catalogue of 823 deep sky objects. Distances to objects
used in the catalogue are supported by reference to professional
astronomical journals and catalogues.

This amatuer astronomy site contains sortable cross-referenced lists
for an 823 object consolidated catalogue based on a non-duplicative set
of the astronomical deep sky objects in the catalogues of Clark,
Herschel400, Messier and Caldwell. Cross-referencing to Barnard, Lynds,
Arp, NGC and PGC catalogues are provided. These cross-referencing lists
may be of interest to intermediate amateurs interested in reducing
duplication of effort when working through the Messier, Caldwell and
Herschel 400 lists.

A catalogue file for Cartes du Ciel is provided to aid in plotting and
locating the 823 objects.

An index of approx. 450 entries is provided to astronomical journal
literature. The index is hyperlinked to the NASA ADS journal service.
Therefore, amateurs and students can quickly review the underlying
article. The index is suitable for studying key topics in astronomical
history and the discovery of the structure of the Milky Way and
supergalactic structure be a casereader method.

The site includes a narrative, loosely based on the Powers of Ten
analogy, which walks beginner and intermediate amateurs through the
structure of the Milky Way Galaxy, the local Virgo Supercluster to 40
megaparsecs from Sol based on the 823 objects in the consolidated
catalogue. Users study can plan observing sessions by groups of
objects, for example open clusters in the Perseus Arm. A partial set of
stars in various constellations are rendered in 3D. Links to major sky
surveys beyond the limits of amateur telescopes to z=6.3 and 3D
renderings of the bounaries of those major surveys are included as an
introduction to supergalactic space and cosmology. In this regard, the
structure of the narrative is similar in content to Powell's popular
_Atlas of the Universe_ site.

The intended audiences for this site are intermediate amateur
astronomers, secondary and college students and teachers, and astronomy
club education coordinators. The 3D renderings, the consolidated
catalogue lists, may be of use in demonstrating the answers to Milky
Way structural and observing questions.

3D renderings are generated over the internet using the Parallegraphic
Cortona VRML plug-in for Microsoft Internet Explorer and Netscape
Navigator. An example of the 2D vs. the 3D approach is Shapley's 1919
plot of Milky Way Globular Clusters in 2D -

http://members.csolutions.net/fisher...hapleyFig1.jpg

vs. a 3D rendering of 81 nearby, observable globular clusters in the
consolidated catalogue -

http://members.csolutions.net/fisher...lobClusClr.jpg

http://members.csolutions.net/fisher...lo_Cortona.htm

Another example is a rendering of 423 galaxies in consolidated
catalogue out to 40 megaparsecs - first in 2D -

http://members.csolutions.net/fisher...mg/MNight2.jpg

- and then in 3D -

http://members.csolutions.net/fisher...niv40Mpc2A.jpg

http://members.csolutions.net/fisher...C1_Cortona.htm

Keywords: astronomy, 3D, milky way, schematic, DSO, deep sky object,
catalogue, Clark, Messier, Caldwell, Barnard, Lynds, Virgo
supercluster, VRML

Site author: 3/2006

canopus56 wrote:
Website announce: Consolidated DSO Catalogues - Clark, Herschel 400,
Messier and Caldwell
http://members.csolutions.net/fisher...efProject.html
snip all

Added the following 3D renderings in self-loading Cortona VRML with
MS-Internet Explorer. These may be of use for general public astronomy
education:

Jpg sample screen shot:
http://members.csolutions.net/fisher...cGalPlane1.jpg

3D Earth and the Ecliptic Plane (VRML)
http://members.csolutions.net/fisher...tA_Cortona.htm

3D Earth and the Ecliptic Plane and the Milky Way Galaxy (VRML)
http://members.csolutions.net/fisher...tB_Cortona.htm

3D Earth and the Ecliptic Plane, rotated to the Milky Way Galaxy plane
(VRML)
http://members.csolutions.net/fisher...tC_Cortona.htm

in:

http://members.csolutions.net/fisher...efProject.html

- Canopus56

===================
Narrative description of the 3D renderings:

Visualizing the Earth's orbit - the ecliptic - with respect to the
Milky Way's galactic plane can be difficult. The following 3D
renderings provide a supplemental visual aid. In the 3D renderings, the
orbit of the Earth is greatly exaggerated in size. If drawn to scale,
the entire solar system would be a minisule point at the intersection
of the axes. The Earth is shown at the equinoxes and solstices.

Two sticks pierce each Earth. The black stick shows the orientation of
the Earth's axis and runs through the Earth's North and South poles.
The second red stick piercing each Earth shows the geographic location
of an observer at 40 degrees North latitude in North America. The Earth
is rotated to its relative position at midnight. The direction of the
tilt of the Earth's axis is fixed and remains the same regardless of
its orbital position as the Earth revolves around the Sun in a
counterclockwise direction. This results in some visual anomalies. On
the day of the vernal or spring equinox at midnight, the Earth is
tilted away from the direction of the Earth's travel in its orbit. On
the day of the summer solstice at midnight, the Earth is tilted
perpendicular to direction of orbit but pointed towards the Sun. On the
autumnal equinox at midnight, the Earth is tilted towards the direction
of orbital travel; and, at the winter solstice, perpendicular to its
orbital travel, but away from the Sun.

In the 3D renderings, next to each Earth globe are floating panels that
show the corresponding view of the night sky at 12AM and 9PM local
time. The user can rotate the 3D renderings in order to build a better
map of the relationship of the Earth's orbit to the Milky Way's plane
and structure.

A bright green line that extends from the origin of the axes in the 3D
renderings represents the solar apex, or the apparent direction that
the Solar System is moving. The solar apex is in the constellation
Hercules (J164605.13+100731.9, G027.70+32.40).