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