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From: [email protected] (Jon Leech)
Newsgroups: sci.space.tech,sci.space.science,sci.astro,sci.answers,news.answers
Subject: Space FAQ 03/13 - Data Sources
Supersedes: <[email protected]>
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Date: 17 Sep 1996 15:50:40 -0400
Organization: University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill
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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 [email protected],
[email protected], or [email protected], 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 [email protected].

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 ([email protected]).

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 ([email protected]).

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 ([email protected]).

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 [email protected]. 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 ([email protected]).

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 "[email protected]"
: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 [email protected]. Contact Archie
Warnock ([email protected]).

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 [email protected] 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 ([email protected]).

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 "[email protected]"
:description "NASA Langley Research Center Technical Reports

Contact [email protected].

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: [email protected]

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 [email protected] .

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 ([email protected]) (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
([email protected]).

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
([email protected]).

http://www.seds.org/messier/

contains Messier's catalog of Deep Sky objects, with descriptions,
images, and background material. Contact Hartmut Frommert
([email protected]).

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
([email protected]) 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
([email protected]).

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 ([email protected]). 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
([email protected]).

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 ([email protected]). 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 ([email protected]).

Daniel Roth ([email protected]) 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
[email protected]. 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 ([email protected]) 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: [email protected]

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: [email protected]

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: [email protected]

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