SLA_OBS - Observatory Parameters   

ACTION:

Look up an entry in a standard list of groundbased observing stations parameters.

CALL:

CALL sla_OBS (N, C, NAME, W, P, H)

GIVEN:

N number specifying observing station

GIVEN or RETURNED:

C identifier specifying observing station

RETURNED:

NAME name of specified observing station

W D longitude (radians, west +ve)

P D geodetic latitude (radians, north +ve)

H D height above sea level (metres)

NOTES:

1.

Station identifiers C may be up to 10 characters long, and station names NAME may be up to 40 characters long.

2.

C and N are alternative ways of specifying the observing station. The C option, which is the most generally useful, may be selected by specifying an N value of zero or less. If N is 1 or more, the parameters of the Nth station in the currently supported list are interrogated, and the station identifier C is returned as well as NAME, W, P and H.

3.

If the station parameters are not available, either because the station identifier C is not recognized, or because an N value greater than the number of stations supported is given, a name of `?' is returned and W, P and H are left in their current states.

4.

Programs can obtain a list of all currently supported stations by calling the routine repeatedly, with N=1,2,3... When NAME=`?' is seen, the list of stations has been exhausted. The stations at the time of writing are listed below.

5.

Station numbers, identifiers, names and other details are subject to change and should not be hardwired into application programs.

6.

All station identifiers C are uppercase only; lower case characters must be converted to uppercase by the calling program. The station names returned may contain both upper- and lowercase. All characters up to the first space are checked; thus an abbreviated ID will return the parameters for the first station in the list which matches the abbreviation supplied, and no station in the list will ever contain embedded spaces. C must not have leading spaces.

7.

IMPORTANT - BEWARE OF THE LONGITUDE SIGN CONVENTION. The longitude returned by sla_OBS is west-positive, following the pre-1984 Astronomical Almanac. However, this sign convention is left-handed and is the opposite of the one now used; elsewhere in SLALIB the preferable east-positive convention is used. In particular, note that for use in sla_AOP, sla_AOPPA and sla_OAP the sign of the longitude must be reversed.

8.

Users are urged to inform the author of any improvements they would like to see made. For example:

• typographical corrections
• more accurate parameters
• better station identifiers or names
• additional stations

Stations supported by sla_OBS at the time of writing:

ID 		 NAME 
 
AAT 		 Anglo-Australian 3.9m Telescope 
ANU2.3 		 Siding Spring 2.3 metre 
APO3.5 		 Apache Point 3.5m 
ARECIBO 		 Arecibo 1000 foot 
ATCA 		 Australia Telescope Compact Array 
BLOEMF 		 Bloemfontein 1.52 metre 
BOSQALEGRE 		 Bosque Alegre 1.54 metre 
CAMB1MILE 		 Cambridge 1 mile 
CAMB5KM 		 Cambridge 5km 
CATALINA61 		 Catalina 61 inch 
CFHT 		 Canada-France-Hawaii 3.6m Telescope 
CSO 		 Caltech Sub-mm Observatory, Mauna Kea 
DAO72 		 DAO Victoria BC 1.85 metre 
DUNLAP74 		 David Dunlap 74 inch 
DUPONT 		 Du Pont 2.5m Telescope, Las Campanas 
EFFELSBERG 		 Effelsberg 100 metre 
ESO3.6 		 ESO 3.6 metre 
ESONTT 		 ESO 3.5 metre NTT 
ESOSCHM 		 ESO 1 metre Schmidt, La Silla 
FCRAO 		 Five College Radio Astronomy Obs 
FLAGSTF61 		 USNO 61 inch astrograph, Flagstaff 
GBVA140 		 Greenbank 140 foot 
GBVA300 		 Greenbank 300 foot 
GEMININ 		 Gemini North 8-m telescope 
HARVARD 		 Harvard College Observatory 1.55m 
HPROV1.52 		 Haute Provence 1.52 metre 
HPROV1.93 		 Haute Provence 1.93 metre 
IRTF 		 NASA IR Telescope Facility, Mauna Kea 
JCMT 		 JCMT 15 metre 
JODRELL1 		 Jodrell Bank 250 foot 
KECK1 		 Keck 10m Telescope 1 
KECK2 		 Keck 10m Telescope 2 
KISO 		 Kiso 1.05 metre Schmidt, Japan 
KOTTAMIA 		 Kottamia 74 inch 
KPNO158 		 Kitt Peak 158 inch 
KPNO36FT 		 Kitt Peak 36 foot 
KPNO84 		 Kitt Peak 84 inch 
KPNO90 		 Kitt Peak 90 inch 
LICK120 		 Lick 120 inch 
LOWELL72 		 Perkins 72 inch, Lowell 
LPO1 		 Jacobus Kapteyn 1m Telescope 
LPO2.5 		 Isaac Newton 2.5m Telescope 
LPO4.2 		 William Herschel 4.2m Telescope 
MAUNAK88 		 Mauna Kea 88 inch 
MCDONLD2.1 		 McDonald 2.1 metre 
MCDONLD2.7 		 McDonald 2.7 metre 
MMT 		 MMT, Mt Hopkins 
MOPRA 		 ATNF Mopra Observatory 
MTEKAR 		 Mt Ekar 1.82 metre 
MTHOP1.5 		 Mt Hopkins 1.5 metre 
MTLEMMON60 		 Mt Lemmon 60 inch 
NOBEYAMA 		 Nobeyama 45 metre 
OKAYAMA 		 Okayama 1.88 metre 
PALOMAR200 		 Palomar 200 inch 
PALOMAR48 		 Palomar 48-inch Schmidt 
PALOMAR60 		 Palomar 60 inch 
PARKES 		 Parkes 64 metre 
QUEBEC1.6 		 Quebec 1.6 metre 
SAAO74 		 Sutherland 74 inch 
SANPM83 		 San Pedro Martir 83 inch 
ST.ANDREWS 		 St Andrews University Observatory 
STEWARD90 		 Steward 90 inch 
STROMLO74 		 Mount Stromlo 74 inch 
SUBARU 		 Subaru 8 metre 
SUGARGROVE 		 Sugar Grove 150 foot 
TAUTNBG 		 Tautenburg 2 metre 
TAUTSCHM 		 Tautenberg 1.34 metre Schmidt 
TIDBINBLA 		 Tidbinbilla 64 metre 
TOLOLO1.5M 		 Cerro Tololo 1.5 metre 
TOLOLO4M 		 Cerro Tololo 4 metre 
UKIRT 		 UK Infra Red Telescope 
UKST 		 UK 1.2 metre Schmidt, Siding Spring 
USSR6 		 USSR 6 metre 
USSR600 		 USSR 600 foot 
VLA 		 Very Large Array