Why wasn't the astronomical name that I entered recognized as valid?
Many of the HEASARC's on-line tools allow the user to enter either a position or a
name. To `resolve' the name, i.e., to find the position associated with an
object name, the HEASARC generally uses either the Simbad or the NED
name resolver services. So the question posed above can be rephrased as
`Why can't the name resolvers find the name that I entered?'
The most likely answer is that you mis-spelled the name! Try another
alias for your object if you know of one, or avoid using the name
resolvers at all, by using the position rather than the name. In either
case, make sure that you specify a search cone radius around the
specified location which is large enough to account for any possible
positional uncertainty.
Another possibility is that the name you used was considered to be
non-standard or ambiguous by the name resolvers. This can happen
sometimes because astronomers don't always adhere to the naming
conventions recommended by the CDS Dictionary of Nomenclature
of Celestial Objects. For example, the names of SNR are often
given in papers using G prefixes, e.g., "G 351.2+0.1", but these are
not the recommended form for SNR, which is in fact "SNR 351.2+00.1".
Notice that as well as the SNR rather than the G prefix, there is an extra
character in the galactic latitude part of the name. (As a matter of fact,
names with G prefixes are reserved by Simbad for high proper motion stars
from the Giclas Catalog and should, in general, be avoided due to their
ambiguity).
Finally, there is a rather small chance that your object has been
accidentally omitted from the name resolvers' lists of sources. If so,
we suggest that you contact their maintainers directly: for Simbad,
email to question@simbad.u-strasbg.fr, or for NED, email to
ned@ipac.caltech.edu (remember that NED only maintains lists of
extragalactic objects).
Answers for the General Public
