Star Catalogs within 200 LY of Earth - Needed in Table Format

In summary, you are looking for star catalogs of stars within 200 lys of Earth for a project you are working on. You would like to have them as .csv, but any table format should do. You will need such information as name, dist, mass, luminosity, spectral type, galactic coords or RA and Dec., radius. Even photographing all those stars takes years of work, and to determine distance you'd need to take photos separated by six months to look for parallax. I don't think what you're asking for exists, or will exist any time soon.
  • #1
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I am looking for star catalogs of stars within 200 lys of Earth for a project I am working on. I would like to have them as .csv, but any table format should do. I'll need such info as name, dist, mass, luminosity, spectral type, galactic coords or RA and Dec., radius. So far my attempts at google is a search overload and what I have found are not in table and cannot be copied easily.

Any help is appreciated.
 
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  • #2
What you're asking for is pretty much impossible. See this list for the nearest 50:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_nearest_stars

A lot of those stars are magnitude 17, and one of them is magnitude 22. To give you an idea of how many stars are that dim, take a look at this photo:

http://www.distantsuns.com/screen_shot6.html

The faintest star there is only magnitude 16, two times brighter than magnitude 17 and 200 times brighter than magnitude 22. The entire chart covers a region roughly equal to the area covered by your thumb at arm's length. To find all stars within 200 light years, astronomers would have to look at every single one of those stars and determine whether its distance: an impossible task. Even photographing all those stars takes years of work, and to determine distance you'd need to take photos separated by six months to look for parallax. I don't know if any of the sky survey equipment can determine a star's position to within 20 milliarcseconds (the parallax at 200 ly), but I'll be really impressed if they can.

So, I don't think what you're asking for exists, or will exist any time soon.
 
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  • #4
There are 39 stars within 15 light years of earth. That means one would expect 39 x (200/15)3 within 200 ly. That's about 100,000 stars - which is a lot. Worse, most of these stars are, as ideasrule mentions, practically invisible.
 
  • #7

1. What is a star catalog?

A star catalog is a collection of information about stars, including their names, positions in the sky, magnitudes, and other characteristics.

2. Why do we need a star catalog within 200 light years of Earth?

Studying stars within 200 light years of Earth allows us to gather more accurate and detailed information about these stars, as they are closer and easier to observe compared to stars that are farther away.

3. What is the purpose of presenting the data in table format?

Presenting the data in a table format allows for easier comparison and analysis of the characteristics of different stars within 200 light years of Earth. It also allows for a more organized and concise presentation of the data.

4. How is the information in a star catalog collected?

The information in a star catalog is collected through various methods, such as telescopic observations, satellite data, and data from other astronomical instruments. This data is then compiled and organized into a catalog.

5. Are there any notable stars within 200 light years of Earth?

Yes, there are several notable stars within 200 light years of Earth, including Proxima Centauri, the closest star to our solar system, and Sirius, one of the brightest stars in the night sky.

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