Why wasn't the astronomical name that I entered recognized as valid?
Many of the HEASARC's on-line tools allow the user to enter either a position or a
name. To `resolve' the name, i.e., to find the position associated with an
object name, the HEASARC generally uses either the Simbad or the NED
name resolver services. So the question posed above can be rephrased as
`Why can't the name resolvers find the name that I entered?'
The most likely answer is that you misspelled the name! Try another
alias for your object if you know of one, or avoid using the name
resolvers at all, by using the position rather than the name. In either
case, make sure that you specify a search cone radius around the
specified location which is large enough to account for any possible
positional uncertainty.
Another possibility is that the name you used was considered to be
non-standard or ambiguous by the name resolvers. This can happen
sometimes because astronomers don't always adhere to the naming
conventions recommended by the CDS Dictionary of Nomenclature
of Celestial Objects. For example, the names of SNR are often
given in papers using G prefixes, e.g., "G 351.2+0.1", but these are
not the recommended form for SNR, which is in fact "SNR 351.2+00.1".
Notice that as well as the SNR rather than the G prefix, there is an extra
character in the galactic latitude part of the name. (As a matter of fact,
names with G prefixes are reserved by Simbad for high proper motion stars
from the Giclas Catalog and should, in general, be avoided due to their
ambiguity).
Finally, there is a rather small chance that your object has been
accidentally omitted from the name resolvers' lists of sources. If so,
we suggest that you contact their maintainers directly: for Simbad,
email to question@simbad.u-strasbg.fr, or for NED, email to
ned@ipac.caltech.edu (remember that NED only maintains lists of
extragalactic objects).
What educational resources does the HEASARC have?
The HEASARC's outreach programs provide
many free educational resources for all levels.
Tell me about black holes (or other astrophysical phenomena)
The HEASARC's outreach programs provide
many free educational resources for all levels.
Where can I find nice images?
The NASA Image Exchange is NASA's centralized
source for its imagery (and also has a good discussion of copyright and other
restrictions on re-use of images). At the HEASARC,
a growing collection of high-energy science
results (images, spectra and light curves) is available.
High-resolution versions of these images are being added regularly. Images of high-energy astronomy satellites are
also available. For the most recent scientific images from high-energy
astrophysics, visit the
HEASARC Picture of the Week page. The Astronomy Picture of the Day has a
new general-astronomy image each day.
How do I credit an image found on these pages? What about copyright?
Many of the images on the HEASARC Web site have credits written on or near
them. The general NASA policy on copyright issues and the use of NASA imagery
by others is available
here.
If an image has a copyright, you should contact the copyright holder
for permission to use the image. If you do not find a credit, please
contact us requesting the
credit. Please include the full URL of the page where you found the image.
Can I purchase printed copies of the images I find on this site?
We do not have the facilites to reproduce and mail images to you. You are
welcome (when the image has no copyright) to download and print out your
own version. Often, high-resolution versions of image are available and
linked explicitly for this purpose.
