A.4.4 Cone Search

Cone search table import dialogue

Cone search table import dialogue

By selecting the Cone Search option from the Load Window's DataSources menu, you can obtain a dialogue which allows you to query one of a number of external web services for a catalogue of objects known in a given region of the sky.

When first displayed, this dialogue window will ask an external services registry for all the cone search services on the net which have advertised their existence. When it has got the result, you will see a list of their names and titles in a table. For more information about each one, use the Columns menu to select what information, such as publisher, reference URL etc is displayed in the table. You can scroll up and down this table and select the one which you want to query by clicking on it.

Having selected one of the cone search services from the table, you need to specify the sky region in which you are interested. If you enter the name of an astronomical object into the Object Name field and hit the Resolve button, the coordinates will be entered into the RA and Dec fields below. Alternatively you can type the coordinates in directly, choosing either degrees or sexagesimal coordinates using the unit selector boxes. Enter the search radius too.

Having done this, hit the OK button. This will send the query to the service you selected and, if successful, load into TOPCAT a table containing all the objects in the region of the sky you have specified. The exact format of the returned table will depend on the service you have selected, but it will contain at least columns representing Right Ascension and Declination.

Note that this window requires certain optional components of the TOPCAT installation, and will not be available if you have the topcat-lite configuration.