| { |
| "name": "Messier Catalog", |
| "description": "The Messier catalog lists 110 notable deep-sky objects (nebulae, star clusters, and galaxies) compiled by French astronomer Charles Messier in the 18th century. It remains one of the most widely used catalogs for amateur and professional astronomers. Each object is identified by its Messier number (M 1 through M 110).", |
| "domain": "astronomy", |
| "columns": { |
| "name": "Full name of the Messier object with leading spaces (e.g., 'M 1' for the Crab Nebula).", |
| "messier_id": "Compact Messier identifier (e.g., 'M 1').", |
| "messier_number": "Integer Messier number from 1 to 110.", |
| "ra_deg": "Right ascension in decimal degrees (0-360). The east-west coordinate on the celestial sphere.", |
| "dec_deg": "Declination in decimal degrees (-90 to +90). The north-south coordinate on the celestial sphere. Positive values are in the northern hemisphere.", |
| "object_type": "Short code for the object type from the SIMBAD database (e.g., 'GlC' = Globular Cluster, 'OpC' = Open Cluster, 'Sy2' = Seyfert 2 Galaxy, 'SNR' = Supernova Remnant, 'PN' = Planetary Nebula, 'AGN' = Active Galactic Nucleus).", |
| "object_category": "Human-readable object category (e.g., 'Globular Cluster', 'Open Cluster', 'Seyfert Galaxy', 'Supernova Remnant').", |
| "major_axis_arcmin": "Angular size of the object's major axis in arcminutes. Larger values indicate larger apparent size in the sky.", |
| "minor_axis_arcmin": "Angular size of the object's minor axis in arcminutes. When equal to major_axis, the object appears circular." |
| } |
| } |
|
|
