Where to get info about the DSO popular names?

[jairoamaral]

I like to learn about the DSO lore, specially why each one got its popular names. I've found that Stellarium uses names I can't find elsewhere. What is the source, so I can read it too? Or is this just an unwritten knowledge from a community?

[gzotti]

As described in the User Guide (ch.8), most of the names come with references. These books can be found on the market. Unknown names can usually be resolved by the search engine of your preference.

[10110111]

For example, the "Dracula Cluster". If you tell me how you find the original source for this name

Open nebulae/default/names.dat. Find the name. Notice the comment "DSC-SG". Search for it from the beginning of the file to get "Deep-Sky Companions: Southern Gems by Stephen James O'Meara, Cambridge University Press, 2013. ISBN 978-1107015012".

[10110111]

@gzotti It might be useful to add Reference as an item in the info string (supporting all the things that have references: constellations, DSOs etc.). Then it would be trivial to find the reference and copy it to clipboard along with the other information. And I mean not the number or the designation of the reference like DSC-SG, but the actual reference string.

[gzotti]

How to use written instructions:

As described in the User Guide (ch.8),...

Locate the Stellarium User Guide that comes with version 25.1. Open it with a PDF reader, locate chapter 8.

Read the opening section:

Click on the number 8.1.2 to jump to section 8.1.2 for detailed instructions, or open the listed file in the program installation directory, nebulae/default/names.dat, with a plaintext editor.

In the first few lines, the structure of the file is explained.

# Stellarium DSO Catalog Names
# --------------------------------------------------------
# Bytes    Format Label   Explanations
# --------------------------------------------------------
#  1 -  5  string prefix  designator for catalogue (prefix)
#  6 - 20  string id      identificator for object in the catalog
# 21 - end string name    proper name of the object (translatable). Format: _("name") [# comment]
# comment is optional but should be used to indicate source for names. See source list below for keys.
# The source keys must not contain hash, colon, comma

Take especially note of the line

# comment is optional but should be used to indicate source for names. See source list below for keys.

Search your object with the search function of the text editor. It is listed in line 719.

NGC 5617 _("Dracula Cluster") # DSC-SG

Comparing this line with the format information above should lead to the conclusion that the letters after the hash sign (#) represent the optional element 'comment', and that this, if present, should indicate the source for the name. Furthermore, instructions suggest to refer to a "source list below for keys". Let us scroll down a bit to see this list.

The key can be searched with the search function of the text editor. It points to line 104:
# DSC-SG: Deep-Sky Companions: Southern Gems by Stephen James O'Meara, Cambridge University Press, 2013. ISBN 978-1107015012

Does that answer your question?

[gzotti]

@gzotti It might be useful to add Reference as an item in the info string (supporting all the things that have references: constellations, DSOs etc.). Then it would be trivial to find the reference and copy it to clipboard along with the other information. And I mean not the number or the designation of the reference like DSC-SG, but the actual reference string.

Yes, this was on the list of possible actions to do later with the source information. Just that when an object has several entries, the InfoString may really become too bloated.

[jairoamaral]

For example, the "Dracula Cluster". If you tell me how you find the original source for this name

Open nebulae/default/names.dat. Find the name. Notice the comment "DSC-SG". Search for it from the beginning of the file to get "Deep-Sky Companions: Southern Gems by Stephen James O'Meara, Cambridge University Press, 2013. ISBN 978-1107015012".

Thank you!