Skip to content

Schema: obs_sbn

The observations table is a replica of the MPC internal PostgreSQL table. It contains all published observations and Isolated Tracklet File (ITF) observations.

Known issues

Warning

  • Missing observations: Some observations present in flat files are missing from the database (on the order of hundreds of old observations).
  • Duplicate observations: Multiple entries with the same obs80_bit and station code.
  • Near-duplicate observations: Remeasurements sent without MPC knowing.
  • Fields with invalid values: See MPC Explorer for details.

Useful information

  • Do NOT compare to db_search (which uses MariaDB, being retired). The obs_sbn data is more reliable.
  • For duplicates, keep the more recent one or the one with more information.
  • Fields prefixed "ADES:" are valid ADES fields; "MPC_ops:" are MPC internal operations fields.

ADES Fields

Column Data type Description
remarks text Observer comment
mag numeric Apparent magnitude
rmsmag numeric Magnitude uncertainty
artsat text Artificial satellite identifier
notes text One-character note flags
frq numeric Carrier reference frequency [MHz]
localuse text Ancillary information container
sys text Coordinate frame for roving/space-based stations
rmscorr numeric RA-Dec correlation
dec numeric Declination [decimal degrees, J2000.0]
rmsdelay numeric Delay uncertainty [microseconds]
deprecated character(1) Deprecated observation (X=deprecated)
disc character(1) Discovery flag
rmsdoppler numeric Doppler shift uncertainty [Hz]
poscov11 through poscov33 numeric Position covariance matrix elements
unctime numeric Estimated systematic time error [seconds]
exp numeric Exposure time [seconds]
com smallint Center-of-mass flag (1=True, 0=False)
subfmt text Original submission format
shapeocc boolean Shape-based occultation flag
decstar numeric Occulted star Dec (stn=244)
rastar numeric Occulted star RA (stn=244)
obsid text Globally unique observation ID (MPC)
trkid text Globally unique tracklet ID (MPC)
permid text IAU permanent designation
deltadec numeric DeltaDec [arcsec, J2000.0]
deltara numeric DeltaRA*cos(Dec) [arcsec, J2000.0]
dist numeric Measured distance [degrees, J2000.0]
pa numeric Position angle [degrees, J2000.0]
mode text Instrumentation mode
trkmpc text MPC-internal object identifier
nucmag smallint Nuclear magnitude flag for comets
nstars integer Number of stars in astrometric fit
obssubid text Observer-included submission ID
stn text Observatory code
doppler numeric Radar Doppler shift [Hz]
delay numeric Radar time delay [seconds]
trksub text Observer-assigned object ID
subfrm text Original reported reference frame
obscenter text Origin of offset observations
ctr integer Origin of reference system (SPICE code)
band text Passband for photometry
photap numeric Photometric aperture radius [arcsec]
pos1, pos2, pos3 numeric Observer position
precdec numeric Archival Dec precision [arcsec]
precra numeric Archival RA precision [seconds]
prectime integer Archival time precision [millionths of day]
prog text Program code
rmsdec numeric Dec uncertainty [arcsec]
rmsdist numeric Distance uncertainty [arcsec]
rmspa numeric Position angle uncertainty [arcsec]
rmsra numeric RA*cos(Dec) uncertainty [arcsec]
rmstime numeric Time uncertainty
ra numeric Right Ascension [decimal degrees, J2000.0]
rmsfit numeric RMS of astrometric fit [arcsec]
seeing numeric Seeing disc [arcsec, FWHM]
ref text Standard reference/citation
astcat text Star catalog (astrometry)
photcat text Star catalog (photometry)
rcv text Receiving antenna (radar)
trx text Transmitting antenna (radar)
logsnr numeric log10(SNR)
provid text Unpacked provisional designation
obstime timestamp(6) without time zone UTC observation date/time

MPC Operations Fields

Column Data type Description
obs80 text 80 or 160-character observation string
healpix bigint HEALPix index (nside=32768, nested, ~6.4 arcsec pixel)
all_pub_ref text[] All publication references for the observation
created_at timestamp(6) with time zone Date and time of initial row insert
updated_at timestamp(6) with time zone Date and time of latest row update
designation_asterisk boolean Marks initial tracklets for component provisional designations
group_id text Duplicate grouping (not currently used)
replacesobsid text Replaced observation ID (not currently used)
id integer PostgreSQL auto-generated identifier
prev_desig text Previous designation for redesignated observations
prev_ref text Previous publication references
status character(1) P=published, p=accepted/waiting, I=ITF
orbit_id text Orbit calculation ID (not currently used)
submission_block_id text Unique submission block ID
submission_id text Unique submission ID

Other Fields

Column Data type Description
vel1, vel2, vel3 numeric Velocity components
fltr character(3) Filter
obstime_text text Observation time as text

Back to schema overview