Path: senator-bedfellow.mit.edu!bloom-beacon.mit.edu!news.mathworks.com!newsgate.duke.edu!news-server.ncren.net!sun-net.ncren.net!newz.oit.unc.edu!news_server.cs.unc.edu!not-for-mail From: leech@cs.unc.edu (Jon Leech) Newsgroups: sci.space.tech,sci.space.science,sci.astro,sci.answers,news.answers Subject: Space FAQ 03/13 - Data Sources Supersedes: Followup-To: poster Date: 17 Sep 1996 15:50:40 -0400 Organization: University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill Lines: 690 Approved: sci-space-tech@isu.isunet.edu, news-answers-request@MIT.Edu Distribution: world Expires: 22 Oct 1996 19:50:35 GMT Message-ID: References: NNTP-Posting-Host: watt.cs.unc.edu Keywords: Frequently Asked Questions Xref: senator-bedfellow.mit.edu sci.space.tech:21674 sci.space.science:10299 sci.astro:142184 sci.answers:5087 news.answers:82216 Archive-name: space/data Last-modified: $Date: 96/09/17 15:40:23 $ Compilation copyright (c) 1994, 1995, 1996 by Jonathan P. Leech. This document may be redistributed in its complete and unmodified form. Other use requires written permission of the author. 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. The sources with the broadest selection of material are the NASA Ames SPACE archive and the National Space Science Data Center (described below). A few sites offer direct dialup access or remote login access, while others offer file transfer over the Internet (referred to as 'anonymous FTP'). Sites not connected to the Internet cannot use FTP directly, but there are a few automated FTP servers which operate via email. Send mail containing only the word HELP to ftpmail@decwrl.dec.com, bitftp@pucc.princeton.edu, or ftpmail@doc.ic.ac.uk, and the servers will send you instructions on how to make requests. Shorthand for a specific file or directory at an anonymous FTP site is ftp://sitename/pathname[/] (e.g. ftp://explorer.arc.nasa.gov/pub/SPACE/Index). The format has been changed to valid URLs for users of the World Wide Web. If you are using a normal FTP client, you will connect to the sitename part of the URL (explorer.arc.nasa.gov, in this case) and get the file specified by the pathname (/pub/SPACE/Index). If a '/' terminates the URL, it indicates a directory containing multiple files. WORLD WIDE WEB (WWW) WWW is a global hypermedia network carried on the Internet and incorporating popular protocols including FTP, WAIS, gopher, archie, NNTP (netnews), etc. The Web is growing at an explosive pace, and huge amounts of space-related information are already online. The FAQ no contains many URLs (Universal Resource Locators) specifying files available by FTP (discussed above), sites accessible by telnet (URLs of the form telnet://sitename), and Web hypertext documents (http://site/page). If you are not familiar with the Web, you should probably begin by obtaining a Web browser (typically NCSA Mosaic for X, Mac, and PC) and exploring. The newsgroup 'comp.infosystems.www.announce' is also available. The NASA Web home page is at http://www.gsfc.nasa.gov/NASA_homepage.html Other space-related material may be found on the Web starting with the overview page at http://info.cern.ch/Space/Overview.html There is also a pointer in the "information by subject" page under "Space Science." VIEWING IMAGES Don't ask for images to be posted to the space/astro newsgroups. They're clumsy to access, wasteful of net resources, and inappropriate in discussion groups. Retrieve images on your own using FTP or Web clients. 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 3.00, available in ftp://ftp.x.org/contrib/xv-3.00.tar.Z 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 from the Usenet FAQ archives in ftp://rtfm.mit.edu/pub/usenet/alt.binaries.pictures ONLINE ARCHIVES CENTER FOR ADVANCED SPACE STUDIES CASS offers online searching of planetary science databases, including bibliographies, images, meeting abstracts, and other categories. Internet users can access CASS via http://cass.jsc.nasa.gov/CASS_home.html telnet://cass.jsc.nasa.gov (login "cass", password "online") This system is primarily for professionals in planetary science. Note that CASS includes and replaces the online service formerly offered by the Lunar and Planetary Institute. Contact leung@lpi.jsc.nasa.gov. DEFENSE METEOROLOGICAL SATELLITE PROGRAM (DMSP) DMSP is a two satellite constellation of near-polar orbiting, sun synchronous satellites monitoring meteorological, oceanographic and solar-terrestrial physics environments. DMSP sample data and information may be accessed on-line via: ftp://ftp.ngdc.noaa.gov/DMSP/ http://web.ngdc.noaa.gov/dmsp/dmsp.html gopher://gopher.ngdc.noaa.gov Contact Greg Deuel (dmsp@mail.ngdc.noaa.gov). INFRARED PROCESSING & ANALYSIS CENTER Caltech's IPAC provides access to an easy-to-use interface for making queries of many astronomical catalogs, especially those from the Infrared Astronomical Satellite (IRAS) mission. You can also query the Bright Star catalog, SAO star catalog, a number of extragalactic (galaxy/quasar) catalogs, etc. Results can be saved to flat ASCII tables or FITS files and copied to your computer via FTP. Using the interface requires a machine running X Windows. You can get to IPAC via http://xcatscan.ipac.caltech.edu telnet://xcatscan.ipac.caltech.edu Log in as "xcatscan" (no password needed). Contact Joe Mazzarella (mazz@ipac.caltech.edu). 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. A listing of files available in the archive is in ftp://explorer.arc.nasa.gov/pub/SPACE/Index Magellan, Voyager, and Viking CD-ROMs are online in ftp://explorer.arc.nasa.gov/cdrom/ Tens of thousands of images are available. 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 ftp://explorer.arc.nasa.gov/pub/SPACE/MISC/media.guide Contact Eugene Miya (eugene@nas.nasa.gov). NASA ASTROPHYSICS DATA SYSTEM The ADS is a distributed data retrieval system which is easy to use and provides uniform access to ground-based and space-based astronomy data from NASA data centers across the country. It currently has over 140 data catalogs of radio, infrared, optical, UV, and X-ray data which can be queried by position or any other parameter in the catalog. The ADS also provides tools to manipulate and plot tabular results. In addition, ADS has a Beta version of an Abstracts Service which allows users to query over 125,000 abstracts of astronomy papers since 1975 by authors, keywords, title words, or abstract text words. ADS use requires direct Internet access. For more info and to sign up to become a user, email ads@cuads.coloradu.edu. The User's Guide and "QuickStart" Guide (PostScript files) are in ftp://sao-ftp.harvard.edu/pub/ads/ADS_User_Guide Contact Carolyn Stern Grant (stern@cfa.harvard.edu). NASA DIRECTORY OF WAIS SERVERS A WAIS database describing servers of interest to the space community is described by the source file: (:source :version 3 :ip-name "ndadsb.gsfc.nasa.gov" :tcp-port 210 :database-name "NASA-directory-of-servers" :cost 0.00 :cost-unit :free :maintainer "stelar-info@Hypatia.gsfc.nasa.gov" :description "Server created with WAIS release 8 b5.1 on May 5 14:05:34 1993 by warnock@Hypatia Maintainers of WAIS databases of interest to the NASA community can register their databases with the NASA-directory-of-servers by sending the source file to stelar-info@hypatia.gsfc.nasa.gov. Contact Archie Warnock (warnock@hypatia.gsfc.nasa.gov). NASA JET PROPULSION LAB (MISSION INFORMATION AND IMAGES) ftp://ftp.jpl.nasa.gov http://www.jpl.nasa.gov Operated by the JPL Public Information Office, containing news releases, status reports, fact sheets, images, and other data on JPL missions. May also be reached by modem at (818)-354-1333 (no parity, 8 data bits, 1 stop bit). Contact newsdesk@jpl.nasa.gov or phone (818)-354-5011. NASA JOHNSON SPACE CENTER (MANNED SPACE IMAGES) JSC's digital image collection, containing thousands of images and descriptions covering the manned space program from Mercury to the present. ftp://images.jsc.nasa.gov http://images.jsc.nasa.gov/html/home.htm Contact Kevin Marsh (kmarsh@ja6.jsc.nasa.gov). NASA LANGLEY (TECHNICAL REPORTS) ftp://techreports.larc.nasa.gov/pub/techreports/larc/92/ offers technical reports. Start with files README and abstracts.92. Most files are compressed PostScript. The reports are also in a WAIS database with the following description: (:source :version 3 :ip-name "techreports.larc.nasa.gov" :tcp-port 210 :database-name "nasa-larc-abs" :cost 0.00 :cost-unit :free :maintainer "M.L.Nelson@LaRC.NASA.GOV" :description "NASA Langley Research Center Technical Reports Contact tr-admin@techreports.larc.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 access SpaceLink at http://spacelink.msfc.nasa.gov telnet://spacelink.msfc.nasa.gov ftp://spacelink.msfc.nasa.gov Or you can dial in at (205)-895-0028 (300/1200/2400/9600(V.32) baud, 8 bits, no parity, 1 stop bit). NATIONAL SPACE SCIENCE DATA CENTER (NSSDC) The National Space Science Data Center is the official clearinghouse for NASA data. The data catalog is available online: http://nssdc.gsfc.nasa.gov/ telnet://nssdca.gsfc.nasa.gov (login as "NODIS") Datasets are made available via anonymous FTP once you select the desired datasets from the online catalog. For non-Internet users, data may be ordered on CD-ROM and in other formats. Among the many types of data available are Voyager, Magellan, and other planetary images, Earth observation data, and star catalogs. For costs and service policy, contact: National Space Science Data Center Request Coordination Office Goddard Space Flight Center Code 633 Greenbelt, MD 20771 Telephone: (301) 286-6695 Email: request@nssdca.gsfc.nasa.gov SPACE TELESCOPE SCIENCE INSTITUTE ELECTRONIC INFORMATION SERVICE STEIS contains a large amount of information about the Hubble Space Telescope, such as status reports and newsletters, in addition to material oriented towards HST observers and proposers. To get started, http://stsci.edu/ ftp://stsci.edu/README Contact webmaster@stsci.edu . STARCAT The Space Telescope European Coordination Facility, at ESO/Garching provides on-line access to a huge astronomical database, featuring - Observation log files of several satellites/telescopes (IUE,IRAS,HST,NTT...). - Spectra and images (IUE, HST). - Most of the astronomical catalogues (SAO, HR, NGC, PPM, IRAS, Veron, GSC and many others, more than 50) in a very convenient way (give center+radius+kind of objects, and you get the corresponding files!). Access at telnet://stesis.hq.eso.org (or STESIS on DECnet). Log in as "starcat" (no password). Files created can be retrieved via FTP. Contact: Benoit Pirenne (bpirenne@eso.org) (phone +49 89 320 06 433) at ST-ECF ASTRONOMICAL DATABASES The full SAO stellar database is probably not available online yet. 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). ftp://nic.funet.fi/pub/astro/ contains a large collection of astronomical programs for many types of computers, databases of stars and deep sky objects, and general astronomy information. This site is mainly for European users, but overseas connections are possible. ftp://explorer.arc.nasa.gov/pub/SPACE/MISC/galaxy.dat is a database of 8,436 galaxies including name, RA, declination, magnitude, and radial velocity, supplied by Wayne Hayes (wayne@csri.utoronto.ca). ftp://ftp.cs.unc.edu/pub/users/leech/FAQ/ contains constellation boundary data (files constell.*) in a form suitable for the construction of star charts and atlases. ftp://iris1.ucis.dal.ca/pub/gif/ contains a number of GIFs from Voyager, Hubble, and other sources (most of this data is also in pub/SPACE/GIF on the Ames server). Please restrict access to 5pm - 8am Atlantic time. ftp://pomona.claremont.edu/astro/catalog/yale_bsc/ contains the Yale Bright Star catalog. Web users, note that this is a VMS site and Mosaic does not get along with their server, so this URL is a placeholder - run FTP manually. Contact James Dishaw (jdishaw@pomona.claremont.edu). http://www.seds.org/messier/ contains Messier's catalog of Deep Sky objects, with descriptions, images, and background material. Contact Hartmut Frommert (spider@seds.org). 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 (j.jahn@abbs.heide.de) has a FAX/email/paper mail service with current news on the observable sky. Email him if interested, or write: Jost Jahn Neustaedter Strasse 11 D-29389 Bodenteich GERMANY +49-581-14824 (FAX) +49-5824-3197 (Voice) http://ourworld.compuserve.com/homepages/afz/ ASTRONOMY PROGRAMS A more complete list is posted monthly to sci.astro and available in ftp://seds.lpl.arizona.edu/faq/astroftp.txt This list is maintained by the SEDS chapter at U. Arizona (astroftp@seds.lpl.arizona.edu). Some astronomy-related programs and databases archived from Usenet source groups: ftp://ftp.uu.net/usenet/comp.sources.unix/volume8/phoon.Z Moon phase and date routines ftp://ftp.uu.net/usenet/comp.sources.misc/volume8/moon.Z Another moon phase program ftp://ftp.uu.net/usenet/comp.sources.unix/volume15/moontool.Z Show moon phase picture on Suns ftp://ftp.uu.net/usenet/comp.sources.unix/volume12/starcharts/ ftp://ftp.uu.net/usenet/comp.sources.unix/volume13/starchart/ Starchart program & Yale star data ftp://ftp.uu.net/usenet/comp.sources.misc/volume11/starchart Starchart program, version 3.2 ftp://ftp.uu.net/usenet/comp.sources.misc/volume12/starchart2 Starchart program, update to version 3.2.1 ftp://ftp.uu.net/usenet/comp.sources.unix/volume16/sao/ Reduced SAO catalog ftp://ftp.uu.net/usenet/comp.sources.misc/volume11/n3emo-orbit ftp://ftp.uu.net/usenet/comp.sources.misc/volume14/n3emo-orbit Orbit: track earth satellites ftp://ftp.uu.net/usenet/comp.sources.misc/volume13/jupmoons Plotter for Jupiter's major moons [in perl] ftp://ftp.uu.net/usenet/comp.sources.misc/volume13/lunisolar Lunisolar (not sure what this does) ftp://ftp.uu.net/usenet/comp.sources.misc/volume18/planet Planet generation simulator Xephem is an interactive astronomical ephemeris program for X11R4/Motif 1.1 (or later) X Windows systems. It computes lots of information about the planets and any solar system objects for which orbital elements are available. A sample database of some 16000+ objects is included in the release kit. It's in http://iraf.noao.edu/~ecdowney/xephem.html Contact Elwood Downey (ecdowney@noao.edu). Ephem is the forefather of xephem designed for simple 24x80 character displays, in ftp://iraf.noao.edu/contrib/xephem/ephem/ephem_4.28.tar.Z Xsat 1.2.6, an X based satellite tracking program, and Xsky 2.1.6, a computerized sky atlas for the X Window System, are available from ftp://arizona.edu/software/unix/xsat/readme.dist ftp://arizona.edu/software/unix/xsky/xsky-216.tarz (This is a VMS FTP site; some Web browsers, such as Mosaic 2.4, may have trouble with these URLs). Contact Terry R. Friedrichsen (terry@venus.sunquest.com). The "Variable Stars Analysis Software Archive" is in ftp://ftpastro.vuw.ac.nz/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. Contributions are encouraged. Contact the archive administrator, Timothy Banks (astrophys-archive@kauri.vuw.ac.nz). For further details on the archive see _The Observatory_, 112, 16, 1992. The "IDL Astronomy Users Library" is in ftp://idlastro.gsfc.nasa.gov/README 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). Daniel Roth (roth@ph-cip.uni-koeln.de) offers an astronomy software service for PC and Atari users in Europe. He has a large library available on disk and a CD-ROM with the entire library. A catalog is available; contact him for ordering details. ORBITAL ELEMENT SETS The most recent orbital elements from the NASA Prediction Bulletins are carried on the Celestial BBS, (205)-409-9280. 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. Orbital element sets are FTPable from the following directories: ftp://archive.afit.af.mil/pub/space/ NASA,TVRO,Shuttle ftp://ftp.funet.fi/pub/astro/dbases/sat-elem/ NASA,TVRO,Molczan,CelBBS,Shuttle ftp://kilroy.jpl.nasa.gov/pub/space/ NASA,Molczan,Thomson 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. GEOSPHERE PROJECT (FULL EARTH IMAGE) Tom van Sant's GeoSphere Project has produced a very nice composite image of the entire Earth (without clouds, so all the surface is visible) by assembling thousands of Landsat images. This image is not in the public domain; any digital copies made available by anonymous FTP are illegal. GeoSphere offers the image in a variety of printed forms (posters, mugs, globes, etc.). Contact them at (800)-845-1522 for a catalog. They may be willing to license the digital database for specific uses, contact them for details. 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 Phil Stooke (stooke@sscl.uwo.ca) maintains a list of maps of all mapped solid bodies except Earth, including sources, ordering information, and references, which is posted to sci.astro periodically and may also be found in ftp://phobos.sscl.uwo.ca/pub/Space/planmap.txt along with related images and files. He has offered to answer questions by email. SOLAR SYSTEM TOURS There are several tutorials on the Web describing the planets and other objects in the solar system, including literature references, images, and much other information. These are good starting points for questions you may have about planets. http://www.seds.org/billa/tnp/ http://www.c3.lanl.gov/~cjhamil/SolarSystem/homepage.html http://stardust.jpl.nasa.gov/planets/ COMETARY / MINOR PLANET ORBITAL DATA Catalogue of Cometary Orbits The availability of the tenth edition of the Catalogue of Cometary Orbits was announced on IAUC 6128 issued on 1995 Jan. 27. The 108 pages contain 1472 sets of orbital elements (in the J2000.0 system) for 1444 cometary apparitions through the end of 1994. The latest edition is the first to utilise the new cometary designations and includes detailed cross-references with the pre-1995 scheme. As an entirely new feature, there is a special tabulation giving osculating elements for the 116 numbered periodic comets (excluding five deemed to be lost) for the epochs 1995 Mar. 24 and Oct. 10. The price, postage included is US$20.00 (US$30.00 by airmail outside North America). The main part of the catalogue and the table of `original' and `future' 1/a values for the 298 long-period comets of the highest quality can by supplied by e-mail for US$50.00; they are also available on an MS-DOS diskette (5.25-inch or 3.5-inch) for US$110.00 (US$120.00 for airmail delivery), this including a facility for extracting individual orbits and computing ephemerides. Checks should be made payable to the Central Bureau for Astronomical Telegrams and mailed to: Central Bureau for Astronomical Telegrams Mail Stop 18 Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory 60 Garden Street Cambridge, MA 02138 U.S.A. email: iausubs@cfa.harvard.edu Subscribers to the IAU Circulars can have their accounts debited by the appropriate amount. Efemeridy Malkyh Planet (Ephemerides Of Minor Planets) This annual volume is the official IAU publication listing orbital elements for the numbered minor planets. It is published by the Institute of Theoretical Astronomy, St. Petersburg and is distributed by White Nights Trading Company 520 N.E. 83rd Street Seattle, WA 98115 USA email: 71023.2454@compuserve.com The MS-DOS diskette version of the EMP is also available. The 1995 edition contains orbital elements and opposition ephemerides for 5791 numbered minor planets. Catalogue Of Orbits Of Unnumbered Minor Planets The availability of the fifth edition of this catalogue was announced on Minor Planet Circular (MPC) 24251. It contains orbital elements for 15587 single-opposition minor planets, all without consideration of perturbations, and is complete through the 1994 Nov. 18 batch of MPCs. The 4553 unnumbered multiple-opposition and long-arc perturbed orbits are in the Catalogue of High-Precision Orbits of Unnumbered Minor Planets. The catalogue is available for $30.00 ($40.00 for airmail delivery), and the orbits are also being issued on an MS-DOS diskette for $120.00. Catalogue Of High-Precision Orbits Of Unnumbered Minor Planets The 1995 (third) edition of this annual publication was announced on Minor Planet Circular (MPC) 24133. The orbits given are for the epoch 1995 Oct. 10.0 TT and the catalogue is complete through th 1994 Nov. 18 batch of MPCs. Osculating elements for the epoch 1995 Oct. 10.0 TT = JDT 2450000.5 are given for 4750 multiple-opposition and 227 long-arc perturbed orbits. Opposition positions and motions are given for objects that reach opposition between 1994 Dec. 1 and 1996 Jan. 31; more extensive ephemerides are given for unusual minor planets. The new catalogue, intended as a companion to the Efemeridy Malykh Planet (EMP), costs $30.00 ($40.00 for airmail delivery). The orbits are also being issued on an MS-DOS diskette for $120.00; the ephemerides are not included, but there is a PC-computer program for generating them. If both the Catalogue of High-Precision Orbits of Unnumbered Minor Planets and the Catalogue Of Orbits Of Unnumbered Minor Planets are desired, they are available at the special price of $50.00 ($65.00 for airmail delivery). The corresponding MS-DOS diskettes are available for $200.00 the pair. Minor Planet Center Mail Stop 18 Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory 60 Garden Street Cambridge, MA 02138 USA email: iausubs@cfa.harvard.edu Subscribers to the IAU Circulars or Minor Planet Circulars can have their accounts debited by the appropriate amount. Minor Planet Circulars The Minor Planet Circulars (MPCs) (also known as Minor Planets and Comets) are published generally on the date of each full moon. The Circulars contain astrometric observations, orbits and ephemerides of both minor planets and comets. New numberings and namings of minor planets, as well as numberings of periodic comets, are announced in the Circulars. An average batch of MPCs runs to over 150 two-column pages and contains over 7000 minor-planet observations. Details from the Minor Planet Center (address above). Sample pages are displayed at http://cfa-www.harvard.edu/cfa/ps/mpc.html NEXT: FAQ #4/13 - Performing calculations and interpreting data formats