<p>The <a href="ftp://cdsarc.u-strasbg.fr/pub/cats/I/311" rel="nofollow noreferrer">Hipparcos</a> is probably all that's really needed.  A lot of them add in portions of the <a href="ftp://cdsarc.u-strasbg.fr/pub/cats/I/259" rel="nofollow noreferrer">Tycho</a> catalog as well.  But even the Hipparcos catalog has more stars than what most armatures will need, and it's generally impractical memory wise to use the whole thing.  To really go crazy, a torrent for the <a href="https://www.ap-i.net/skychart/en/news/nomad" rel="nofollow noreferrer">NOMAD</a> catalog is available.  All of those list only individual stars.  For things like galaxies and nebula the <a href="ftp://cdsarc.u-strasbg.fr/pub/cats/VII/1B" rel="nofollow noreferrer">NCG</a> catalog should do, but there are also the Index Catalogue, and Hershel Catalogs.  The most popular catalog would be the Messier, which has no official distribution sources (that I know of), but databases are available if you search <a href="https://www.nexstarsite.com/Book/DSO.htm" rel="nofollow noreferrer">this one for example</a>.</p>

<p>If you don't care about the original sources, Stellarium has their <a href="http://stellarium.sourceforge.net/wiki/index.php/Star_Catalogues" rel="nofollow noreferrer">star catalogs</a> on their wiki.</p>

CC BY-SA 4.0
2019-09-02T09:59:52.653Z
Thank you, could you please help me out with how I can read these binary catalogue files, do I need to turn them into a .csv file?
SidS
CC BY-SA 4.0
2019-09-02T23:18:14.270Z
If you're referring to the Stellarium catalogs, I've never used them so can't be of much help.  You should start with the Hipparcos catalog, it's in plain ASCII.  If you find you still need the Stellarium ones, the format is described here: http://stellarium.sourceforge.net/wiki/index.php/Star_Catalogue_Format
Greg Miller
CC BY-SA 4.0
2019-09-01T19:39:17.650Z
2019-09-01T19:39:17.650Z
Greg Miller
<p>Stargazing apps such as Star Walk must have a database with a list of celestial objects, their names and details and each of their celestial coordinates.</p>

<p>I am interested to know which database these apps use as I am looking to build my own stargazing app for a computing project.</p>

<p>It would be great if someone could help me with this.</p>

<p>Thanks!</p>

CC BY-SA 4.0
2019-08-31T19:24:32.450Z
Related: https://astronomy.stackexchange.com/a/32885
Mike G
<star-gazing><star-catalogues>
Which database of celestial objects do stargazing apps use?
SidS
# Which database of celestial objects do stargazing apps use?

(Asked by: username_0 on 2019-08-31)

Stargazing apps such as Star Walk must have a database with a list of celestial objects, their names and details and each of their celestial coordinates.

I am interested to know which database these apps use as I am looking to build my own stargazing app for a computing project.

It would be great if someone could help me with this.

Thanks!

**Tags:** star-gazing, star-catalogues
> **Comments:**
> **username_1**: Related: https://astronomy.stackexchange.com/a/32885  

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## 1 answers

### Answer by username_2 on 2019-09-01. Score: 1 | Accepted answer

The [Hipparcos](ftp://cdsarc.u-strasbg.fr/pub/cats/I/311) is probably all that's really needed. A lot of them add in portions of the [Tycho](ftp://cdsarc.u-strasbg.fr/pub/cats/I/259) catalog as well. But even the Hipparcos catalog has more stars than what most armatures will need, and it's generally impractical memory wise to use the whole thing. To really go crazy, a torrent for the [NOMAD](https://www.ap-i.net/skychart/en/news/nomad) catalog is available. All of those list only individual stars. For things like galaxies and nebula the [NCG](ftp://cdsarc.u-strasbg.fr/pub/cats/VII/1B) catalog should do, but there are also the Index Catalogue, and Hershel Catalogs. The most popular catalog would be the Messier, which has no official distribution sources (that I know of), but databases are available if you search [this one for example](https://www.nexstarsite.com/Book/DSO.htm).

If you don't care about the original sources, Stellarium has their [star catalogs](http://stellarium.sourceforge.net/wiki/index.php/Star_Catalogues) on their wiki.

> **Comments:**
> **username_0**: Thank you, could you please help me out with how I can read these binary catalogue files, do I need to turn them into a .csv file?  
> **username_2**: If you're referring to the Stellarium catalogs, I've never used them so can't be of much help.  You should start with the Hipparcos catalog, it's in plain ASCII.  If you find you still need the Stellarium ones, the format is described here: http://stellarium.sourceforge.net/wiki/index.php/Star_Catalogue_Format  

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