Actually, you don't need to explain why you want one. Just send a one line email asking to be put on the distribution list. I got mine last week. And I agree that USNO isn't offended at requests for their product. If they didn't get any requests, that would be a disaster.
However, there are some issues raising their ugly heads regarding the UCAC3. Don't throw out your copies of UCAC2 yet. (Check out recent discussion on MPL). Jim Jones Sander Pool wrote: > You're welcome to discourage everyone from asking for the disk, of > course. Sure the UCAC project is from the 'olden days' but who cares? > There are still people working on it, collecting a pay check and writing > papers etc. You can decide to ignore the project and not ask for a disk > or show your interest and send an email explaining why you want one. > USNO and the UCAC project will not crumble because it got more requests > than it could handle. The reverse *could* happen. Why do UCAC4 when no > one wanted UCAC3? > > Use your own judgment and only ask for the disk if it has meaning to > you. But don't worry about poor ol' USNO. If I worked at USNO and read > sentiment like that below I'd be insulted. I wouldn't need protection > from the evil hordes of astro geeks who send emails asking for my > product. I'd welcome the interest and be proud of how relevant my > project is. If I ran out of resources to send out disks I'd stop sending > them out and reply with a simple 'sorry, no more disks to be had'. I'd > then count on the generosity of the astro community to distribute the > data in other ways. This is what happened with UCAC2. We're still here, > as is USNO. > > But, that's just my opinion. Mr Zacharias may well curse me and agree > with you :) > > Sander > > John Mahony wrote: > >> >> >> ----- Original Message ---- >> >>> From: Sander Pool <[email protected] >>> >> <mailto:sander_pool%40pobox.com>> >> >>> I trust the USNO is a mature organization that can throttle the number >>> of discs it sends out or put usage restrictions on what people can ask >>> them for. >>> >> (Well I misread that as "put restrictions on which people can ask for >> them", so my first paragraph isn't directly applicable, but I'll leave >> it in since it helps explain the situation) >> >> The problem with restrictions is that many amateurs use catalogs from >> the USNO for many various "real science" uses, but they often have no >> formal affiliation with established science/educational organizations, >> so there's no practical way to "regulate" distribution of discs from >> the USNO that would still allow these amateurs to get them. >> >> But the USNO also has limited resources for this. Much USNO >> activities, especially producing astrometric catalogs like this, is a >> throwback to the days when accurate navigation was much more directly >> related to star positions. These days, for an admiral in the Navy's >> budget office in the pentagon (or wherever it is), it probably looks >> like a low priority- interesting to geeks but of limited practical >> value to the military. There are perhaps a few hundred users who have >> a legitimate scientific need for these catalogs, and the impression I >> get is that there are only a few people at the USNO involved in >> produing them. In other words, it's a very low budget operation. >> >> So they're forced to rely on individuals to be reasonable in making >> requests for discs. For earlier catalogs, it has been common for them >> to run out of discs and have no funding for further distribution. But >> by then it's usually available online through CDS/Vizier, although >> downloads of the full catalog would require a very fast connection. >> >> If you're planning to convert the catalog for use by CdC users, that >> sounds like a reasonable reason to request a disc. But it would be bad >> if every CdC user requested his own disc from the USNO. >> >> -John >> >> > > > ------------------------------------ > > Yahoo! Groups Links > > > > >
