mx_format -- format  description  for  the  ".MX"  celestial coordinate  file 

DESCRIPTION 

Users of MX will specify the objects
they wish to observe by providing a ASCII  text  file  containing
the  RAs  and DECs of the desired target objects.  This file also
contains labels  to  identify  the  objects  and  priorities  for
observation.   Files  may  contain  coordinates of objects spread
over a large region of the sky, or  they  may  be  limited  to  a
single 45 arcminute diameter field.  This help file specifies the
format of the ASCII file.

THIS IS THE FILE YOU SHOULD BRING TO STEWARD A  FEW  DAYS  BEFORE
THE MX RUN BEGINS.

EXAMPLES
1950.0     CLUSTER    A1904
Coordinates measured by P. Hintzen, 14 April 1985
    100's = stars, 200's = galaxies, stars different from 1980 coords
    center star = 101, 108, 112
  101 A1904       101      C 14 20 25.06  48 45  8.4 -9.99 50
  102 A1904       102      A 14 20 14.90  48 58  5.2 -9.99 50
  103 A1904       103      A 14 18 27.52  48 44  8.4 -9.99 50
  104 A1904       104      A 14 18 15.26  48 34 41.7 -9.99 50
  203 A1904       203      G 14 20 17.81  48 41 44.1 -9.99 50
  204 A1904       204      G 14 20 16.55  48 41 28.2 -9.99 50
  205 A1904       205      G 14 20 11.86  48 41  9.6 -9.99 50
  206 A1904       206      G 14 20  9.11  48 42 48.4 -9.99 50
  207 A1904       207      G 14 20  7.52  48 43 33.0 -9.99 50
  209 A1904       209      G 14 20 18.55  48 39 33.3 -9.99 50
etc.........................................

FILENAME CONVENTION

Each coordinate file should have a 5 character name  followed  by
'.mx'.   The  5  characters  are usually the name of the cluster.
The 5 character limit is imposed by the length of  possible  file
names  imposed by CP/M (8.3) (6 character names are possible, but
not recommended).  The filename should only include  alphanumeric
characters; no punctuation marks except the period before MX.

FILE FORMAT

This file should be readable as an ASCII text  file  with  single
<NL>  (0AH)  record  terminators. The text file is easy to create
with an editor.

Line 1 starts with the epoch of the coordinates  in  F6.1  format
such  as as the filename or the date.  Comments can be as long as
126 characters, but we  recommend  stopping  at  80.   They  must
exist.

Lines 2 through 4 are comments and will be copied to other  files
as text.

The remaining lines  of  the  file  contain  the  coordinates  of
individual objects to be observed.  The format follows:

 At position 1: Object number == I5
        you WILL be sorry if you use integers above 9999
        keep center star numbers below 999
 At position 7: Objectname == A20 (optional)
 At position 28: Object type == A1
      Observable Object Types:
        'G' = galaxy
        'S' = star, treated identically to G
        'P' = priority target for multiple observations
        'M' = maximum possible priority target (10x)
        'K' = specified sky position
        'Y' = arbitrary sky position
      Non-observable Object Types:
        'A' = alignment object for setup
        'B' = blank field center position (no star)
        'C' = center alignment object for guiding
        'U' = unknown (will be ignored)
        'O' = offset (used for telescope catalog)
        'Q' = parasitic target observations (will be ignored)
 At position 30: Right Ascension == I2,1X,I2,1X,F5.2
        the coordinates may be separated by spaces or colons.
 At position 42: Declination == I3,1X,I2,1X,F4.1
        the sign of the declination must be in the degrees field.
        if no sign is specified, positive declination is the result.
 At position 54: Magnitude == F5.2 (optional)
 At position 60: Priority == I2         0 < priority < 99
        larger numbers are more likely to be observed.
        0 priority objects will never be observed.
        use 50 if you want all objects with equal weight.

SEE ALSO mxcoord.project, mxcoord.coordinates, mxcoord.mx_spec