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Paper: A System for On-line Access to the GSC II
Volume: 172, Astronomical Data Analysis Software and Systems VIII
Page: 237
Authors: Baruffolo, Andrea; Benacchio, Leopoldo; Benfante, Lucio
Abstract: The second Guide Star Catalog (GSC II) will be a catalog of positions, proper motions, magnitudes and colors for stars and galaxies complete down to V=18.5 and is expected to be completed by the end of 1999. Besides its operational nature, the GSC II will also be a powerful tool for galactic and extragalactic research. However, with an expected number of records of the order of two billion, this catalog will pose problems for efficiently accessing the data. In this paper, we describe our on-going effort aimed at building a management system for the GSC II, based on a new technology Object Relational Database Management System, that will allow researchers to fully exploit the scientific content of this catalog. We thus give an overview of the architecture of the system, the data model being developed, the extensions we are making to the database engine to support astronomical data, and the access interfaces currently under development.
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