Disk Detective Talk

Aladin, SIMBAD,NED and VizieR

  • TED91 by TED91 moderator

    I decided to create this some sort of "simple guide" for those who would like to know some informations about the object which you classify.
    If you want to know whether it's a star, galaxy or something else, then SIMBAD isn't the only way.

    You can find here: http://blog.diskdetective.org/2014/02/02/the-power-and-danger-of-simbad/ that SIMBAD isn't perfect and doesn't contain informations about every object in the sky.
    I'll show you here how to find informations about objects other than through SIMBAD. It's simple actually and you don't need to be an expert.

    Aladin - Interactive sky atlas. You can download it for free here:

    http://aladin.u-strasbg.fr/java/nph-aladin.pl?frame=downloading

    As an example, I chose http://talk.diskdetective.org/#/subjects/AWI00008hg

    I chose this object because SIMBAD says it's a star, but NED says that it's a galaxy. It's an example of why not to rely only on SIMBAD.

    [EDIT] Now it's properly listed as Possible AGN on SIMBAD

    You find the coordinates after you click on the button “More Info on SIMBAD”.

    enter image description here

    enter image description here

    After you run the Aladin, then insert the coordinates and press ENTER key. You should see something like this:

    enter image description here

    After that, load Simbad and NED (It may take a while, depending on the size of the displayed area).

    enter image description here

    Now you just have to zoom in and click on SIMBAD or NED link.

    enter image description here

    You should be able to get these links:

    http://simbad.u-strasbg.fr/simbad/sim-id?Ident=2MASS+J02313136-4826575&NbIdent=1

    http://ned.ipac.caltech.edu/cgi-bin/nph-objsearch?objname=6dF+J0231313-482658&extend=no

    There are some proper guidelines.

    All kinds of user's guides : http://cdsweb.u-strasbg.fr/help

    The Aladin user manual : http://aladin.u-strasbg.fr/java/AladinManual6.pdf

    NED FAQ: http://ned.ipac.caltech.edu/help/allfeats.html

    NED glossary: http://ned.ipac.caltech.edu/level5/Glossary/frames.html

    SIMBAD User's Guide: http://simbad.u-strasbg.fr/guide/index.htx

    VizieR

    The easiest way to find out all available informations

    If there isn't any info on SIMBAD, you can use VizieR.

    Those are the links that you can sometimes find on SIMBAD, like here:

    enter image description here

    http://vizier.u-strasbg.fr/viz-bin/VizieR

    Enter the coordinates and radius, then go to the result page.

    Just a reminder:

    Size of Disk Detective image is 60 arcseconds across

    Size of Red Circle is 10.5 arcseconds radius

    enter image description here

    On VizieR you can find informations about all DD objects, but keep in mind that nothing is perfect and you can find various informations that are contradictory.

    In case that SIMBAD server is down, then you can insert WISE ID instead of coordinates.

    I hope that this will help at least some of you. 😃

    Posted

  • Pini2013 by Pini2013 translator, moderator

    Great @TED91! That it's the most frequent question. I want to add the blog post by @Irebull: http://blog.diskdetective.org/2014/02/20/thats-no-moon/ that also explains why we can't see disks, planets or moons in the interfaz images. 😃

    Posted

  • TED91 by TED91 moderator

    You can use Aladin also differently.

    If you know the name of the object but not its coordinates, then enter its name instead of coordinates. For example you can try: Barnard 33, NGC 6992, NGC 604, M51, NGC 1491, M 1, M 31, NGC 4631, M 42,M 83 etc.

    It's better in SDSS or WISE colored images 😃

    Posted

  • Shigeru by Shigeru moderator

    Just amazing, thanks for the guide! 😄

    Posted

  • jacedjohnson by jacedjohnson

    Awesome post. Thanks for the guide.

    Posted

  • Pini2013 by Pini2013 translator, moderator

    See the "new face" on NED! You can test the new interface here: http://ned.ipac.caltech.edu/ngi/ Now is easier to find information if you know the object name.

    Posted

  • Pini2013 by Pini2013 translator, moderator

    SIMBAD server is down, reports an internal error, if you know how to search in VIZIER this is the link: http://vizier.u-strasbg.fr/viz-bin/VizieR

    The WISE ID below the image contains the object coordinates, like this example WISE ID: J131701.32-022615.8, you can convert this information in this way 13:17:01.32 and -02:26:15.8 and search in the surveys with the position data.

    Posted

  • Pini2013 by Pini2013 translator, moderator

    Today SIMBAD is working fine 😃

    Posted

  • TED91 by TED91 moderator

    A new version of Aladin is now available here: http://aladin.u-strasbg.fr/java/nph-aladin.pl?frame=downloading

    Posted

  • voyager1682002 by voyager1682002 moderator

    Here is the NED FAQ page which I find very helpful: http://ned.ipac.caltech.edu/help/faq5.html#5j

    Posted

  • anoxie by anoxie

    Thank you for this example TED! Just a comment/question:

    According to your example it was a star (in SIMBAD) or a galaxy (in NED).

    I've just followed your tutorial and if i've done nothing wrong it now appears as a possible AGN.

    How are these types determined? according to the spectrum and visually as we do here?

    Thank you,

    Posted

  • TED91 by TED91 moderator in response to anoxie's comment.

    You're right. Now it's properly registered as Possible AGN. I don't know how often and based on what they update these informations on SIMBAD. Check the comment by John Debes here "The only way to identify them concretely is to take a spectrum".

    Posted

  • anoxie by anoxie in response to TED91's comment.

    John Debes: "Given the SED, it looks more like a galaxy, but I could be wrong."

    Actually this other example has been update as "possible AGN" 😉

    Thank you for your explanation.

    Posted

  • 13lueAngeL by 13lueAngeL translator

    Hey guys,

    Any of the advanced users / scientists would have recommendations regarding the tools used to assess a specific star ? There is Simbad, of course, the Catalina survey page ( http://nunuku.cacr.caltech.edu/cgi-bin/getcssconedb_release_img.cgi ) and the advanced NED ( http://ned.ipac.caltech.edu/ui/ ) Are there any other tools you guys are using that may be of interest for a user to play with? I'd be thankful, if there is, a few appreciation / recommendations.

    Regards,

    Posted

  • voyager1682002 by voyager1682002 moderator in response to 13lueAngeL's comment.

    You may want to check this out: http://irsa.ipac.caltech.edu/frontpage/

    Posted

  • MyNameHere by MyNameHere

    As a new user in here, I appreciate this very much. Thank you!

    Posted