"This site is a tool for amateur astronomers who love to pursue deep sky objects. It employs a web-based version of the Saguaro Astronomy Club's database (ver 7.2), consisting of over 10,000 records. This online version of the SAC database allows amateur astronomers to compile detailed and customized observing lists," says the text on the Deep Sky Database homepage maintained by members of the Saguaro Astronomy club of Phoenix, Arizona. Fields that users can designate are constellation, magnitude, and "sort by." A detailed data documentation page gives the key to all "sort by" and constellation fields available. When the user submits a query, results are presented as a table that can be pasted into a word processing or spreadsheet program. Objects available for query include: Galaxies and Galaxy Clusters, Open and Globular Clusters, Bright and Dark Nebulae, Planetary Nebulae, All objects within a Constellation, Unusual objects in the sky, The Messier Objects by Season, The Herschel 400 Objects by Constellation, The Herschel 2500 Objects by Constellation, Double Stars by Constellation and Separation. Although this site is billed as being for amateurs, it might also be a good resource for students and researchers in astronomy.
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