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Newbie Question about Star Catalogs
Actually, I'm not really even a newbie, just a science fiction fan with a
vague interest in astronomy. But, as it happens, I'm reading a novel which gives a catalog reference to a particular star and I would like to know where this star is and what it's called. I know the novel will tell me this eventually but I'd like to know *now* :-) The star mentioned in the book is identified as "NGS 549672"; if I'm not mistaken, "NGS" refers to a particular star catalog (National Galactic Survey?) and "549672" uniquely identifies a specific star. I googled on "NGS 549672" but found nothing useful. Then I googled on "star catalog" and found tons of hits and discovered that there are apparently a number of popular star charts. Unfortunately, I don't know how to use *any* of them to discover what the name of this particular star is. Now, I am NOT asking anyone to simply tell me the star's name is; I'd like to learn a little something along the way :-) So, can anyone tell me what catalog to use to find this star and where I can find an online tool (or program) that will enable me to do this lookup? For example: "use the XYZ Star Catalog, which can be found at http://xyz.com and has a self-explanatory interface where you can specify the star's identifier." I should mention that the book was written in 1953 so the catalog in question, NGS, may not exist any more, having been superseded by something newer. If that is the case, I assume there is some way to translate my reference to the name used in the later catalog(s) so I'd appreciate some guidance in how to find a conversion tool. See, I *am* trying to learn something, not just have all the answers handed to me on a silver platter :-) -- Rhino |
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