Astronomy/NGC pics

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Expert: - 1/12/2012


Question
Following up on my last question. The software I'm writing is for use on my personal laptop. The only people to view it would be friends perhaps. The data so far is from the NGC/IC project which is open for personal use. I want to be able to enter an NGC number and have it pull up a pic. I also want eventually to drive my 9" Cat to view the object.... You must be as old as I to be up this early.

Answer
Here is the page with information about accessing the Sloan Digital Sky Survey database: http://www.sdss3.org/dr8/ (I saw on another page that you can access the data as images of various sorts, so you'd have to decide what format you want the images in)

There is a similar one for the Digital Sky Survey, but I haven't been able to find the exact page. Still, you could take a look at their home page, and see if you can find the coding page yourself: http://archive.eso.org/dss/dss

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Courtney Seligman

Expertise

I can answer almost any question about astronomy and related sciences, such as physics and geology. I will not answer questions about astrology and similar pseudo-scientific rubbish.

Experience

I have been a professor of astronomy for over 40 years, and am working on an online text/encyclopedia of astronomy.

Publications
Astronomical Journal, Publications of the Astronomical Society of the Pacific (too long ago to be really relevant, but you could search for Courtney Seligman on Google Scholar)

Education/Credentials
I received a BA in astronomy and physics and a MA in astronomy, both from UCLA. I was working on my doctoral dissertation when I started teaching, and discovered that I preferred teaching to research.

Awards and Honors
(too long ago to be relevant, but Phi Beta Kappa and Sigma Xi still keep trying to get me to become a paying member)

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