Observation Notes (Note 1)¶
Alphabetic notes shown with some observations are defined according to the scheme below. Non-alphabetic codes are used to differentiate between different programs at the same site and such codes will be defined in the headings for the individual observatories in the Minor Planet Circulars.
Standard Alphabetic Note 1 Codes¶
| Code | Definition |
|---|---|
| A | earlier approximate position inferior |
| a | sense of motion ambiguous |
| B | bright sky/black or dark plate |
| b | bad seeing |
| c | crowded star field |
| D | declination uncertain |
| d | diffuse image |
| E | at or near edge of plate |
| F | faint image |
| f | involved with emulsion or plate flaw |
| G | poor guiding |
| g | no guiding |
| H | hand measurement of CCD image |
| h | observed through cloud/haze |
| I | involved with star |
| i | inkdot measured |
| J | J2000.0 rereduction of previously-reported position |
| K | stacked image |
| k | stare-mode observation by scanning system |
| M | measurement difficult |
| m | image tracked on object motion |
| N | near edge of plate, measurement uncertain |
| O | image out of focus |
| o | plate measured in one direction only |
| P | position uncertain |
| p | poor image |
| R | right ascension uncertain |
| r | poor distribution of reference stars |
| S | poor sky |
| s | streaked image |
| T | time uncertain |
| t | trailed image |
| U | uncertain image |
| u | unconfirmed image |
| V | very faint image |
| W | weak image |
| w | weak solution |
Restricted and Deprecated Codes¶
These codes are either restricted or must not be used on newly-submitted observations:
| Code | Definition |
|---|---|
| C | correction to earlier position |
| Q | "quality" observation not measured using survey reduction code (used only for code E12) |
| Z | astrometry from F51, F52, G96 (deprecated), I41, 703 (deprecated) reported by a non-survey measurer/pipeline |
Spacecraft Observation Note Codes¶
Observations from spacecraft observatories use these codes for sungrazers and other comets:
| Code | Instrument |
|---|---|
| A | SOHO-LASCO coronagraph C2 (numeric code 2 for pre-2013) |
| B | SOHO-LASCO coronagraph C3 (numeric code 3 for pre-2013) |
| G | STEREO-SECCHI HI1-A (numeric code 4 for observatory code C49) |
| H | STEREO-SECCHI COR2-A (numeric code 5 for observatory code C49) |
| O | STEREO-SECCHI HI1-B (numeric code 4 for observatory code C50) |
| P | STEREO-SECCHI COR2-B (numeric code 5 for observatory code C50) |
Pre-2013 observations contain numeric notes indicating the detecting instrument, as listed in the parentheses above.