<p>The <code>astropy.coordinates</code> packages has the <code>SkyCoord.from_name()</code> convenience method (<a href="https://docs.astropy.org/en/stable/api/astropy.coordinates.SkyCoord.html#astropy.coordinates.SkyCoord.from_name" rel="noreferrer">docs link</a>) uses the <a href="http://cds.u-strasbg.fr/cgi-bin/Sesame" rel="noreferrer">Sesame</a> name resolver at CDS to search <a href="http://simbad.u-strasbg.fr/simbad" rel="noreferrer">Simbad</a>, the NASA/IPAC Extragalactic Database <a href="http://ned.ipac.caltech.edu/index.html" rel="noreferrer">NED</a> and <a href="https://vizier.u-strasbg.fr/vizier/" rel="noreferrer">VizieR</a> database of astronomical catalogs. Since these encompass basically every known object in astronomy, there is no &quot;list&quot;; simply put something in and it's very likely to be in there. If it doesn't work initially, try putting it into the <a href="http://simbad.u-strasbg.fr/simbad/sim-fid" rel="noreferrer">Simbad identifier search</a> directly and it will likely give you hints if you are searching for something in a specific catalog but haven't quite got the catalog prefix right)</p>
<p>(There is a <a href="https://cds.unistra.fr/cgi-bin/Dic-Simbad" rel="noreferrer">Dictionary of Nomenclature</a> on Simbad which I've never needed to use, but you can put in parts of an identifier or put in terms you want to see entries for (if you change the 'Choose one of the Info possibilities:' to <code>Related to words</code>)</p>

CC BY-SA 4.0
2023-12-14T09:10:11.983Z
`from astropy.coordinates import SkyCoord, EarthLocation`
`betelgeuse = SkyCoord.from_name(’Betelgeuse’)`
`print(betelgeuse)`

Have there been any major changes to the databases? My code for Betelgeuse didn't work (I was trying to combine database searching and Jupyter Notebook work).
ayr
CC BY-SA 4.0
2023-12-14T16:51:51.840Z
Working here for me on astropy 5.3.2: `print(betelgeuse) ; <SkyCoord (ICRS): (ra, dec) in deg    (88.79293899, 7.40706399)>` Maybe it was a temporary issue in the name resolver ?
astrosnapper
CC BY-SA 4.0
2021-09-13T22:42:09.630Z
2021-09-13T22:42:09.630Z
astrosnapper
<p>The spectacular Python package <code>astropy</code> allows the user to search for a celestial object using <code>astropy.coordinates</code>, querying through <a href="https://cdsweb.u-strasbg.fr/" rel="nofollow noreferrer">CDS</a>. The <a href="https://docs.astropy.org/en/stable/coordinates/index.html" rel="nofollow noreferrer">docs</a> talk about how to use the package, but I can't see anywhere a list of the objects I could search for, even on the CDS website. Is there anywhere I could find such a list?</p>

<python><software><astropy>
What objects can I search for using astropy.coordinates?
Jim421616
# What objects can I search for using astropy.coordinates?

(Asked by: username_0 on 2021-09-13)

The spectacular Python package `astropy` allows the user to search for a celestial object using `astropy.coordinates`, querying through [CDS](https://cdsweb.u-strasbg.fr/). The [docs](https://docs.astropy.org/en/stable/coordinates/index.html) talk about how to use the package, but I can't see anywhere a list of the objects I could search for, even on the CDS website. Is there anywhere I could find such a list?

**Tags:** python, software, astropy


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## 1 answers

### Answer by username_1 on 2021-09-13. Score: 5 | Accepted answer

The `astropy.coordinates` packages has the `SkyCoord.from_name()` convenience method ([docs link](https://docs.astropy.org/en/stable/api/astropy.coordinates.SkyCoord.html#astropy.coordinates.SkyCoord.from_name)) uses the [Sesame](http://cds.u-strasbg.fr/cgi-bin/Sesame) name resolver at CDS to search [Simbad](http://simbad.u-strasbg.fr/simbad), the NASA/IPAC Extragalactic Database [NED](http://ned.ipac.caltech.edu/index.html) and [VizieR](https://vizier.u-strasbg.fr/vizier/) database of astronomical catalogs. Since these encompass basically every known object in astronomy, there is no "list"; simply put something in and it's very likely to be in there. If it doesn't work initially, try putting it into the [Simbad identifier search](http://simbad.u-strasbg.fr/simbad/sim-fid) directly and it will likely give you hints if you are searching for something in a specific catalog but haven't quite got the catalog prefix right)

(There is a [Dictionary of Nomenclature](https://cds.unistra.fr/cgi-bin/Dic-Simbad) on Simbad which I've never needed to use, but you can put in parts of an identifier or put in terms you want to see entries for (if you change the 'Choose one of the Info possibilities:' to `Related to words`)

> **Comments:**
> **username_2**: `from astropy.coordinates import SkyCoord, EarthLocation` `betelgeuse = SkyCoord.from_name(’Betelgeuse’)` `print(betelgeuse)`  Have there been any major changes to the databases? My code for Betelgeuse didn't work (I was trying to combine database searching and Jupyter Notebook work).  
> **username_1**: Working here for me on astropy 5.3.2: `print(betelgeuse) ; <SkyCoord (ICRS): (ra, dec) in deg    (88.79293899, 7.40706399)>` Maybe it was a temporary issue in the name resolver ?  

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