NED Frequently Asked Questions

NED Interface and Services (Q) : How can I get a permanent record of my search results? (Q) : How do I get copies of the abstracts e-mailed to me? (Q) : Is there a way to have the defaults in NED query pages automatically cleared of options? (Q) : We would like to automate access to NED using computer programs and scripts. Are there any issues with the servers that we should be aware of? (Q) : I have a list of thousands of objects which I'd like to run through NED. What is the easiest way to do this? NED and other catalogs (Q) : Why doesn't NED have any information about the Sun, the planets, or the stars? (Q) : What images are included in NED? (Q) : How may I contribute my FITS images or spectra to NED? (Q) : What is the difference between "STRICT" and "LIBERAL" in the IAU-format search? (Q) : Not all of the IRAS catalog entries seem to be in NED. Are some sources missing? (Q) : There are only 1500 entries in the Markarian catalog. Yet NED has some Markarian numbers over 1500. Why? (Q) : There is a gap in the Fairall numbers between 1185 and 1201. Do these objects exist? (Q) : I've noticed that the RC3 data in NED sometimes do not agree with the RC3 printed version. Which is correct? (Q) : Which SDSS sources are included in NED, from which data release (DR) version? NED scientific calculations (Q) : How do you calculate the Galactic extinction values? (Q) : How do you choose the coordinates for objects in NED? (Q) : Is there an easy way to precess my coordinates? (Q) : What precession routine has NED adopted? (Q) : Is there an easy way to change coordinate systems? (Q) : What kind of magnitude is listed in the Basic Data? (Q) : What are the sources for the photometric data in NED? (Q) : Have the photometric data in NED been transformed or reduced in any way? (Q) : Why are there negative fluxes and flux densities in NED? (Q) : What kind of redshifts are used in NED? (Q) : Some of the reported redshifts in NED seem to show discrepancies with my estimates. Why? (Q) : Is there any information that explains the jargon used in the photometry of objects in NED? Specific NED search and retrievals (Q) : Is there any way to retrieve all of the objects mentioned in a given paper? (Q) : Can I find all the papers written by a given author? (Q) : How can I find the QSO 2251+113 without doing a position search? (Q) : In the Advanced All-Sky Search page, is it possible to add a filter for the V magnitude of the target? (Q) : Is there any way to retrieve data concerning velocity functions within galaxies, so one can get the velocity distributions of stars as a function of galactic morphology? (Q) : Is there anyway I can get a hold of measured fluxes for my objects using NED? (Q) : Is there a way to perform a NED search for objects based on spectroscopic redshifts, and not one based on color or m10 redshifts? (Q) : When I use the search for References from the LITERATURE menu in the NED Home page, why do I sometimes get results referring to papers that are not related to my intended object? (Q) : Why does a search for M51 return the wrong position? NED Database (Q) : What kind of magnitude is listed in the Basic Data? (Q) : Is there any information that explains the jargon used in the photometry of objects in NED? (Q) : What is the source of the Morphological types in the NED database? (Q) : The "Morphology" line of NED's Basic Data sometimes contains abbreviations such as "BCD" and "Sbrst". What exactly do these mean? (Q) : How do I read that 19-digit REFCODE of yours? (Q) : What do the strange notations like "NED01", "ID", and "NOTES02" mean? (Q) : How often is NED updated? (Q) : How complete is the NED database? (Q) : Is there a way to determine if the reported redshift is spectroscopic or photometric? And what do the codes following the redshift mean? (Q) : The fields of view from the 2MASS Large Galaxy Atlas (LGA) do not agree between the FITS and GIF versions of the images. Which is correct? (Q) : What are the object type codes that NED uses? Nomenclature (Q) : How do I read that 19-digit REFCODE of yours? (Q) : What do the strange notations like "NED01", "ID", and "NOTES02" mean? (Q) : I would like to add a Table to my paper with a list of background galaxies and their coordinates. What nomenclature should I use? (Q) : Some object names have the form "xxx T1-001", but I don't see any T1 in the paper. Where does the "T1" come from? Other NED Questions (Q) : How can I change the scale of a skyplot? (Q) : DSS images of some galaxies near the celestial poles are rotated with respect to 2MASS images. Which image is correct? (Q) : How can I acknowledge NED if it has been useful in my research? Return to beginning of this page. Back to "About NED". Back to the NED Feature List.

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