Explanation of References on Astrometric Observations
Astrometric observations of comets, minor planets and natural satellites that are accepted for publication in the Minor Planet Circulars (MPCs), the Minor Planet Supplement (MPSs), the Minor Planet Electronic Circulars and the IAU Circulars have a publication reference copied onto the observational record.In the new observation format this reference is easily readable, but limitations in the current format mean that the reference has to be compressed. It is this compressed format that is described here. The information should be sufficient to allow one to convert from the compressed format to a readable format.
The compressed reference is stored in columns 73-77 of the observation record. For the purpose of this description, column 73 of the observation record will be referred to as column 1 of the designation. Similarly, column 77 of the observational record is column 5 of the designation.
1: Temporary References on MPECs
Observations that appear on MPECs have in the past had an implicit reference: the circular upon which they appeared. Since observations from these circulars were often being used in the general community without attribution, an explicit reference is now added to the observations on the circular. This is a temporary reference and is replaced by a permanent reference when the observations appear in the MPCs or MPSs.Col. Purpose 1 "E" 2 Half-month of MPEC preparation 3-5 Circular number within the half-month.Example: observations appearing on MPEC 2004-P03 have the reference "EP003". Note that there is no need to store the year in the temporary designation, as acceptable observations will acquire a permanent reference upon publication in the MPCs and MPSs.
2: Permanent References
Permanent references refer to the MPCs and MPSs, as well as other journals. It is expected that users of observational data, where appropriate (and this would probably apply to all uses of the data on the web), refer explicitly to the publication source for each observation.A: Five Digit References
Five-digit references refer to publication in the MPCs.Col. Purpose 1-5 MPC numberExample: "24133" refers to "MPC 24133".
B: "@" + Four Digit References
Five-digit references refer to publication in the MPCs with numbers above 99999.Col. Purpose 1 "@" 2-5 MPC number excess over 100000Example: "@0133" refers to "MPC 100133".
C: "#" + Four Characters
Five-digit references refer to publication in the MPCs with numbers above 109999.Col. Purpose 1 "#" 2-5 Base-62 encoded value of (MPC number - 110000)The Base-62 encoding uses the characters "0123456789ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRSTUVWXYZabcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyz" to represent "digits" 0 through 61.
Example: "#002B" = MPC 110135.
D: Lower-case Letter + Four Digit references
These references refer to publication in the MPSs.Col. Purpose 1 Encoded value of (MPS number) DIV 10000 2-5 (MPS number) MOD 10000The value in column 1 is encoded by converting the MPS number to a lower-case letter as follows: CHAR(97+INT(MPS_Number/10000)). Therefore, "a" is used for MPS 1-9999, "b" for MPS 10000-19999, etc.
Examples: "j8391" refers to "MPS 98391", "a0320" refers to "MPS 320" and "k0001" refers to "MPS 100001".
E: Tilde + Four Base-62 Character references
These references refer to publication in the MPSs.Col. Purpose 1 "~" 2-5 Base-62 encoded value of (MPS number - 260000)The Base-62 encoding uses the characters "0123456789ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRSTUVWXYZabcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyz" to represent "digits" 0 through 61.
Examples: "~0000" refers to "MPS 260000" and "~007M" is "MPS 260456" (since "007M" = 0*62*62*62 + 0*62*62 + 7*62 + 22 = 456).
F: Upper-case Letter + Four Digit References
This form of the reference covers a number of journals. The first column indicates which journal, columns 2-5 indicate on which circular in that series the observations appeared.Col. Purpose 1 Journal identifier 2-5 Circular number Journal identifier H Harvard Announcement Card (HAC) I IAU Circular (IAUC) M Minor Planet Circulars (MPC) R Planetenzirkular des Astronomischen Rechen-Institut (RI)Examples: "R0034" refers to "RI 34", "I2340" refers to "IAUC 2340".
G: Two or More Letters References
This form of the reference covers most non-MPC journals. The journal identifier takes from two to five characters. If digits appear, these generally refer either to the volume or the circular number in which the observations were published.Journal identifier AA V Astronomy and Astrophysics AB C Bulletin des Astrophysikalischen Observatoriums Abastumani AC C Astronomisches Zirkular der Akademie der Wissenschaften der UdSSR AE V Astronomical Papers prepared for the use of the American Ephemeris and Nautical Almanac AJ V Astronomical Journal AN V Astronomische Nachrichten AP V Astrophysical Journal Supplement APO V Annales de l'Observatoire de Paris: Observations AS V Acta Astronomica Sinica AZ V Astronomicheskij Zhurnal AcA V Acta Astronomica As V Astronomy and Astrophysics Supplement BA V Bulletin Astronomique BB V Bulletin Astronomique de l'Observatoire Royal de Belgique, Uccle BC V Bulletin of the Astronomical Institutes of Czechoslovakia BG V Bulletin de l'Observatoire Astronomique de Beograd BN I Bulletin of the Astronomical Institutes of the Netherlands BP V Bulletin de la Societe des amis des sciences et des lettres de Poznan BZ V Beobachtungs-Zirkulare der Astronomischen Nachrichten CB I Comet Bulletin of the Orient Astronomical Association CC V Observatorio Astronomico de Cordoba, Serie Contribuciones CD I Tsirkulyari Rasadkhonai Stalinobod CK V Izvestiya Krymskoj Astrofizicheskoj Observatorii CM V Circulaire de l'Observatoire de Marseille CMC V Carlsberg Meridian Circle Publications CO V Odesskij Gosudarstvennyj Universitet Izvestiya Astronomicheskoj Observattorii CR V Comptes Rendus hebdomadaires de l'academie des sciences de Paris CS V Soobshcheniya Gosudarstvennogo Astronomicheskogo Instituta imeni P. K. Shternberga GOxxx Y Greenwich Observations for the year 1xxx HA V Harvard Annal HD V Veröffentlichungen der Landessternwarte Heidelberg HTCDR Hipparcos-Tycho CD-ROM IHW D International Halley Watch CD-ROM Ic V Icarus JB V Journal of the British Astronomial Association JC C Japan Astronomical Study Association Circular JO V Journal des Observateurs KB V Bulletin of the Kwasan Observatory, Kyoto KK C Kiev Komet Tsirkular LB C Lick Observatory Bulletin LO C Lowell Observatory Bulletin LP V Publicaciones Observatorio Astronomico de La Plata MN V Monthly Notices NA V Annales de l'Observatoire de Nice NC C Nihondaira Observatory Circular NO V Publications of the U.S. Naval Observatory, Second Series NZ C Nachrichtenblatt der Astronomischen Zentralstelle OB V The Observatory PA V Publicaations of the Astronomical Society of the Pacific PC C Poulkovo Observatory Circular PD V Tartu Astronoonmia Observatooriumi Publikatsioonid PK V Pyublikatsii Kievskoj Astronomicheskoj Observatorii PO I Perth Observatory Communication PP I Izvestiya Glavnoj Astronomicheskoj Observatorii v Pulkove PT V Pubblicazioni del Osservatorio di Torino PZ C Zirkular des Astronomischen Hauptobservatoriums Pulkowo RA V Ricerche Astronomiche RM V Memoirs of the Royal Astronomical Society SA V Monthly Notices of the Astronomical Society of Southern Africa SOB V Observatory Bulletin TB V Tokyo Astronomical Bulletin TC C Transval Observatory Circular TI V Astronomia-Optika Institucio, Universitato de Turku, Informo UC C Circular of the Union Observatory, Johannesburg WO V Astronomical Observations of the U.S. Naval Observatory, Washington WiA V Annalen der Sternwarte der Universitäts Wien pM V Mitteilungen der Nikolai-Hauptsternwarte zu Pulkowowhere the second column is "V" for volume numbers, "C" for circular numbers, "I" for issue number, "D" for CD-ROM numbers and "Y" for years.
Examples: "AN080" refers to "AN 80", "MN008" refers to "MN 8".