A very useful tool that I use when trying to locate information about an object is the VizieR Service, http://vizier.u-strasbg.fr/viz-bin/VizieR . This service allows access to 7276 catalogs and has a Java enabled visualization tool that plots the data from a specific coordinate and catalog to be plotted over the POSS II image of that area. A few hints to get started with the service: 1. Start by determining what catalog you want data from by "Browsing Through Catalogs". Some common catalogs that I use are the GSC, GSC2.2, SDSS, Landolt 1992:II/183. Once you find the catalog that you want data from put either its name or catalog number in the top left box. 2. In the "Target" box either put in the target's common name that can be resolved by Simbad or put in the RA & Dec Coordinates. 3. In "Target Radius:" put in the radius of objects around your target that you want information on. As the field of view for our telescopes is around 20 arc-minutes, I put in 20. 4. In "Output Preferences" select an appropriate number of objects to find. I typically set it for 200 but in crowded fields I have gone up to 1000. 5. I check the "Compute" boxes "r" and "Position". 6. I select "Sort by" "r". 7. Then go over to the left and select "Find Data". 8. Give it some time and soon a table of information around your target from your selected catalog will be produced. 9. Here is where the fun begins: slide the screen all of the way down to the bottom of the page and look for "Optical Image of the central part of this region with Aladin-Java". Click on this and a Java enabled viewer will appear and the stars from the POSS II plate will be plotted as well as your data. 10. Click on an object that has a red diamond around it will show the underlying data for that object at the bottom. If more than one catalog was selected all data from all catalogs will be shown. Enjoy. Jerry Foote ScopeCraft, Inc. 4175 E. Red Cliffs Dr. Kanab, UT 84741 435-899-1255 jfoote@scopecraft.com