From: leech@mahler.cs.unc.edu (Jon Leech)
Newsgroups: sci.astro,sci.space,news.answers
Subject: Space FAQ 03/15 - Data Sources
Keywords: Frequently Asked Questions
Date: 24 Jul 92 04:35:43 GMT
Expires: 6 Sep 92 04:35:41 GMT
Followup-To: poster
Organization: University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill

Archive-name: space/data
Last-modified: $Date: 92/07/24 00:27:03 $

ONLINE AND OTHER SOURCES OF IMAGES, DATA, ETC.


INTRODUCTION

    A wide variety of images, data, catalogs, information releases, and
    other material dealing with space and astronomy may be found on the net.
    A few sites offer direct dialup access or remote login access, while the
    remainder support some form of file transfer. Many sites are listed as
    providing 'anonymous FTP'. This refers to the File Transfer Protocol on
    the Internet. Sites not connected to the Internet cannot use FTP
    directly, but there are a few automated FTP servers which operates via
    email. Send mail containing only the word HELP to ftpmail@decwrl.dec.com
    or bitftp@pucc.princeton.edu, and the servers will send you instructions
    on how to make requests.

    The sources with the broadest selection of material are the NASA Ames
    SPACE archive and the National Space Science Data Center.

    Don't even ask for images to be posted to the net. The data volume is
    huge and nobody wants to spend the time on it.


VIEWING IMAGES

    The possible combinations of image formats and machines is forebodingly
    large, and I won't attempt to cover common formats (GIF, etc.) here. To
    read PDS and VICAR (and many other) formats on Unix systems running X,
    use XV 2.11, available by anonymous FTP from export.lcs.mit.edu
    (18.24.0.12) in contrib/xv-2.11.tar.Z and the other standard X11 FTP
    sites.

    The FAQ for the Usenet group alt.binaries.pictures discusses image
    formats and how to get image viewing software. A copy of this document
    is available by anonymous FTP from the Usenet FAQ archives at
    pit-manager.mit.edu (18.72.1.58), in directory
    pub/usenet/alt.binaries.pictures.


ONLINE ARCHIVES

    NASA AMES

    Extensive archives are maintained at NASA Ames and are available via
    anonymous FTP or an email server. These archives include many images and
    a wide variety of documents including this FAQ list, NASA press
    releases, shuttle launch advisories, and mission status reports. Please
    note that these are NOT maintained on an official basis.

    FTP users should connect to ames.arc.nasa.gov (128.102.18.3) and look in
    pub/SPACE. pub/SPACE/Index contains a listing of files available in the
    archive (the index is about 200K by itself).

    To access the archives by email, send a letter to
    archive-server@ames.arc.nasa.gov (or ames!archive-server). In the
    subject of your letter (or in the body), use commands like:

	send SPACE Index
	send SPACE SHUTTLE/ss01.23.91.

    The capitalization of the subdirectory names is important. All are in
    caps. Only text files are handled by the email server at present; use
    one of the FTP email servers described in the introduction to this
    section for images or programs.

    The Magellan Venus and Voyager Jupiter, Saturn, and Uranus CD-ROM image
    disks have been put online in the CDROM and CDROM2 directories. The
    disks will be rotated on a weekly basis. Thousands of images are
    available in these collections.

    The GIF directory contains images in GIF format. The VICAR directory
    contains Magellan images in VICAR format (these are also available in
    the GIF directory). A PC program capable of displaying these files is
    found in the IMDISP directory (see the item "VIEWING IMAGES" below).

    The NASA media guide describes the various NASA centers and how to
    contact their public affairs officers; this may be useful when pursuing
    specific information. It's in MISC/media.guide.

    Any problems with the archive server should be reported to Peter Yee
    (yee@ames.arc.nasa.gov).


    NASA SPACELINK

    SpaceLink is an online service located at Marshall Space Flight Center
    in Huntsville, Alabama. The system is specifically designed for
    teachers. The data base is arranged to provide easy access to current
    and historical information on NASA aeronautics, space research, and
    technology transfer information. Also included are suggested classroom
    activities that incorporate information on NASA projects to teach a
    number of scientific principles. Unlike bulletin board systems, NASA
    Spacelink does not provide for interaction between callers. However it
    does allow teachers and other callers to leave questions and comments
    for NASA which may be answered by regular mail. Messages are answered
    electronically, even to acknowledge requests which will be fulfilled by
    mail. Messages are generally handled the next working day except during
    missions when turnaround times increase. The mail system is closed- loop
    between the user and NASA.

    SpaceLink also offers downloadable shareware and public domain programs
    useful for science educators as well as space graphics and GIF images
    from NASA's planetary probes and the Hubble Telescope.

    You can dial in at (205)-895-0028 (300/1200/2400/9600(V.32) baud, 8
    bits, no parity, 1 stop bit), or telnet to spacelink.msfc.nasa.gov
    (128.158.13.250, also known as xsl.msfc.nasa.gov) if you're on the
    Internet. Anonymous FTP capability will be offered in the future.

    Most of this information is also available from the Ames server in
    directory SPACELINK.


    NATIONAL SPACE SCIENCE DATA CENTER (NSSDC)

    The National Space Science Data Center is the official clearinghouse for
    NASA data. The data catalog (*not* the data itself) is available online.
    Internet users can telnet to nssdca.gsfc.nasa.gov (128.183.36.23) and
    log in as 'NODIS' (no password). You can also get the catalog by sending
    email to 'request@nssdc.gsfc.nasa.gov'.

    You can also dial in at (301)-286-9000 (300, 1200, or 2400 baud, 8 bits,
    no parity, one stop). At the "Enter Number:" prompt, enter MD and
    carriage return. When the system responds "Call Complete," enter a few
    more carriage returns to get the "Username:" and log in as 'NODIS' (no
    password).

    The system is menu-driven; topics available as of 4/10/92 are:

	1   -	Master Directory - NASA & Global Change
	2   -	Personnel Information Management System
	3   -	Nimbus-7 GRID TOMS Data
	4   -	Interplanetary Medium Data (OMNI)
	5   -	Request data and/or information from NSSDC
	6   -	Geophysical Models
	7   -	CANOPUS Newsletter
	8   -	International Ultraviolet Explorer Data Request
	9   -	CZCS Browse and Order Utility
	10  -	Astronomical Data Center (ADC)
	11  -	STEP Bulletin Board Service
	12  -	Standards and Technology Information System

    Data can be ordered from the NSSDC on CD-ROM and other formats. Among
    the many types of data available are Voyager, Magellan, and other
    planetary images, Earth observation data, and star catalogs. Viewers for
    Macintosh and IBM systems are also available. As an example of the cost,
    an 8 CD set of Voyager images is $75. Data may ordered online, by email,
    or by physical mail. The postal address is:

	National Space Science Data Center
	Request Coordination Office
	Goddard Space Flight Center
	Code 633
	Greenbelt, MD  20771

	Telephone: (301) 286-6695

	Email address:	 request@nssdca.gsfc.nasa.gov

    NSSDCA is also an anonymous FTP site, but no comprehensive list of
    what's there is available at present.


    SPACE AND PLANETARY IMAGE FACILITY

    Available 24 hours a day via anonymous FTP from pioneer.unm.edu. Has
    approximately 150 CD-ROM's full of imagery, raw, and tabular data. To
    start, get the file:

	pioneer.unm.edu:pub/info/beginner-info

    This will hopefully give you all of the information you need to get data
    from their machine. beginner-info has been translated to other
    languages, you should look inside pub/info for the particular language
    that meets your needs.

    Contact help@pioneer.unm.edu.


    SPACE TELESCOPE SCIENCE INSTITUTE ELECTRONIC INFORMATION SERVICE

    stsci.edu (130.167.1.2) has a large amount of information about the
    Hubble Space Telescope available by anonymous FTP, such as status
    reports and newsletters, in addition to material oriented towards HST
    observers and proposers. Get the top level README file to begin with.
    Contact Pete Reppert (reppert@stsci.edu) or Chris O'Dea
    (odea@stsci.edu).


    ASTRONOMICAL DATABASES

    The full SAO stellar database is *NOT* available online, probably due to
    the 40 MB size. It may be ordered on magnetic tape from the NSSDC. A
    subset containing position and magnitude only is available by FTP (see
    "Astronomy Programs" below).

    nic.funet.fi (128.214.6.100) has a large collection of astronomical
    programs for many types of computers, databases of stars and deep sky
    objects, and general astronomy information in directory /pub/astro. This
    site is mainly for European users, but overseas connections are
    possible.

    mandarin.mit.edu (18.82.0.21) has the following data available via
    anonymous FTP in directory /astro: StarChart v3.2, orbital elements for
    bright comets and asteroids, the Yale Bright Star catalog, Saguaro
    Astronomy Club Deepsky and Double Star databases, some PC astronomy
    programs, and possibly more. Get astro/README. Contact
    ccount@athena.mit.edu with questions.

    The Ames archives contain a database of 8,436 galaxies including name,
    RA, declination, magnitude, and radial velocity in MISC/galaxy.dat.
    Supplied by Wayne Hayes (wayne@csri.utoronto.ca).

    iris1.ucis.dal.ca (129.173.18.107) has a number of GIFs from Voyager,
    Hubble, and other sources available by anonymous FTP in pub/gif (most of
    this data is also in SPACE/GIF on the Ames server). Please restrict
    access to 5pm - 8am Atlantic time.

    pomona.claremont.edu has the Yale Bright Star catalog for anonymous FTP
    in directory [.YALE_BSC]. Contact James Dishaw
    (jdishaw@hmcvax.claremont.edu).

    The Hubble Guide Star catalog is available on CD-ROM for the Mac and PC
    for $49.95 US (catalog # ST101).

	Astronomical Society of the Pacific
	390 Ashton Ave.
	San Francisco, CA 94112
	Phone: (415) 337-2624 9 AM - 3 PM Pacific Time
	FAX: (415) 337-5205

    For German (and possibly other European) readers, Jost Jahn has a
    service to distribute astronomical data to interested amateurs at cost.
    About 30-40 catalogs are available for DM 6..8/disk. Several floppy disk
    formats are available. Because of the expense of receiving email on his
    system, he asks that you contact him by physical mail:

	Jost Jahn
	Neustaedter Strasse 11
	W-3123 Bodenteich
	GERMANY
	Phone: FRG-5824-3197


    ASTRONOMY PROGRAMS

    Various astronomy-related programs and databases posted to the net in
    the past are archived for anonymous FTP at multiple sites, including
    ftp.uu.net (137.39.1.9). Also see the ASTRO-FTP list posted to sci.astro
    monthly, which is more complete than this list.

    Astonomical/Space-related sources of interest in comp.sources.unix:

    Volume 8:	    phoon	moon phase and date routines
    Volume 12,13:   starchart	starchart program & Yale Star data
    Volume 15:	    moontool	shows moon phase picture on Suns
    Volume 16:	    sao		reduced SAO catalog

    Astonomical/Space-related sources of interest in comp.sources.misc:

    Volume  8:	    moon	another moon phase program
    Volume 11:	    starchart	starchart program, version 3.2
    Volume 11:	    n3emo-orbit orbit: track earth satellites
    Volume 12:	    starchart2	starchart program, update to version 3.2.1
    Volume 13:	    jupmoons	plotter for Jupiter's major moons [in perl]
    Volume 13:	    lunisolar	lunisolar (not sure what this does)
    Volume 14:	    ephem-4.21	astronomical ephemeris, v4.21
    Volume 14:	    n3emo-orbit patch to orbit 3.7
    Volume 18:	    planet	planet generation simulator

    Elwood Downey (e_downey@tasha.cca.cr.rockwell.com), the author of
    "ephem", has offered to mail copies to people who can't find it on one
    of the archives.

    XSAT, an X Window System based satellite tracking program, is
    available by anonymous FTP from export.lcs.mit.edu (18.24.0.12) in
    contrib/xsat1.0.tar.Z. Contact Dave Curry (davy@ecn.purdue.edu)
    for more information.

    The "Variable Stars Analysis Software Archive" is available via
    anonymous FTP from kauri.vuw.ac.nz (130.195.11.3) in directory
    pub/astrophys. This is intended for specialists in this field, and they
    would appreciate people from outside New Zealand confining their FTP
    access to the astrophys directory, as they pay a significant amount for
    Internet access. Contents are relatively sparse at present due to the
    youth of the archive - contributions are encouraged. Contact the archive
    administrator, Timothy Banks (bankst@kauri.vuw.ac.nz) for more
    information.

    The "IDL Astronomy Users Library" is available by anonymous FTP from
    idlastro.gsfc.nasa.gov (128.183.57.82). This is a central repository for
    general purpose astronomy procedures written in IDL, a commercial image
    processing, plotting, and programming language. Contact Wayne Landsman
    (landsman@stars.gsfc.nasa.gov) for more information.


    ORBITAL ELEMENT SETS

    The most recent orbital elements from the NASA Prediction Bulletins are
    carried on the Celestial BBS, (513)-427-0674. Documentation and tracking
    software are also available on this system. The Celestial BBS may be
    accessed 24 hours/day at 300, 1200, or 2400 baud using 8 data bits, 1
    stop bit, no parity.

    This information is also available via anonymous FTP from
    nachos.ssesco.com (192.55.187.18) in directory sat_elements/nasa
    (address problems with the server to elmquist@ssesco.com), as well as
    kilroy.jpl.nasa.gov (128.149.1.165) in pub/space/elements/nasa and
    pub/space/elements/molczan (contact cyamamot@kilroy.jpl.nasa.gov).

    Orbital elements for the Hubble Space Telescope are posted periodically
    to sci.astro by Mike Rose (mrose@stsci.edu), and a Macintosh program for
    interpreting this information is available by FTP from stsci.edu
    (130.167.1.2) in Software/hstmap-3.4.0.sit.hqx. This program has also
    been posted to comp.binaries.mac.


    SPACE DIGEST ARCHIVES

    Copies of back issues of Space Digest are archived on
    LISTSERV@UGA.BITNET. Send mail containing the message "INDEX SPACE" to
    get an index of files; send it the message "GET filename filetype" to
    get a particular file.


LANDSAT AND NASA PHOTOS

    You can get black-and-white 1:1M prints, negatives, or positives for
    $10, $18, $12 respectively for any Landsat data more than 2 years old
    from EDC, (Eros (Earth Resources Orbiting Satellite) Data Center). Call
    them at (605)-594-6511. You get 80 meter resolution from the MSS
    scanner, 135x180 kilometers on a picture 135x180 mm in size. I think you
    have to select one band from (green, red, near IR, second near IR), but
    I'm not sure. Digitial data is also available at higher prices.

    Transparencies of all NASA photos available to the public can be
    borrowed from the NASA photo archive; you can have copies or prints
    made.

	 NASA Audio-Visual Facility
	 918 North Rengstorff Ave
	 Mountain View, CA  94043
	 (415)-604-6270


PLANETARY MAPS

    The USGS address for maps of the planets is:

    U.S. Geological Survey,
    Distribution Branch,
    Box 25286, Federal Center, Bldg. 41
    Denver, CO 80225

    Maps cost $2.40 to $3.10 per sheet (a few come in sets of 2 or 3 sheets).

    The best global maps of Mars based on Viking images are 1:15,000,000
    scale in 3 sheets. These maps are:

    I-1535 (2 sheets only) - relief, albedo, names
    I-1535
    I-1618 (3 sheets) - relief, names
    I-2030 (3 sheets) - relief, topographic contours
    I-1802-A,B,C (3 sheets) - geology

    There are many other maps as well: 30 sheets at 1:5,000,000 scale in
    relief, albedo, geology, photomosaic forms (not all 30 sheets available
    in all formats); 140 sheets at 1:2,000,000 scale as photomosaics of the
    whole planet, about 100 sheets of interesting sites at 1:500,000 scale
    in photomosaic format, and lots of special sheets.

    Then there are maps of Mercury, Venus, the Moon, the four Galilean
    Satellites, six moons of Saturn and five of Uranus. [Phil Stooke
    (stooke@vaxr.sscl.uwo.ca), the author of this item, has offered to
    respond to email requests for information on any topic relating to lunar
    and planetary maps.]


COMETARY ORBIT DATA

    The Central Bureau for Astronomical Telegrams and the Minor Planet
    Center announce the sixth edition of the Catalogue of Cometary Orbits in
    IAU Circular 4935. The catalogue contains 1292 entries which represent
    all known comets through November 1989 and is 96 pages long.
    Non-subscribers to the Circulars may purchase the catalogue for $15.00
    while the cost to subscribers is $7.50. The basic catalogue in ASCII
    along with a program to extract specific orbits and calculate
    ephemerides is available on MS-DOS 5.25-inch 2S2D diskette at a cost of
    $75.00 (the program requires an 8087 math coprocessor). The catalogue
    alone is also available by e-mail for $37.50 or on magnetic tape for
    $300.00.

    Except for the printed version of the catalogue, the various magnetic
    media or e-mail forms of the catalogue do not specifically meantion
    non-subscribers. It is possible that these forms of the catalogue may
    not be available to non-subscribers or that their prices may be more
    expensive than those given. Mail requests for specific information and
    orders to:

	Central Bureau for Astronomical Telegrams
	Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory
	Cambridge, MA 02138, USA


NEXT: FAQ #4/15 - Performing calculations and interpreting data formats
Newsgroups: sci.astro