Aerospace and Astronometric Distances

by John R. Carlsen (updated 12 September 2022)

The table below includes notable distances from Earth’s surface used in aerospace and astronomy and their correlations, with Earth at the bottom and the farthest distance at the top, normalized to kilometers, and somewhat logarithmic in scale. (The table may be printed.)

Key

~ : Approximated/rounded
† : Distances greater than 2,000,000 km are relative to the Sun
‡ : Via calculation

Notable Catalogs

Below are summaries of notable astronomical catalogs indicating (as applicable) the nomenclature of objects identified by those catalogs and (as available) the year(s) of their publication.

Ancient Astronomy

Catalogs listed below were created before major advancements in astronometric technology:

Almagest (second century)

by Claudius Ptolemy (circa 100-170)

Book of Fixed Stars (circa 964)

by Abd al-Rahman al-Sufi (903-986)

Optical Telescopic Astronomy

Catalogs listed below were created approximately in the era after the invention and 1608 Dutch patent of the optical telescope:

M[1-45]: Catalogue des Nébuleuses et des Amas d’Étoiles (Catalog of Nebulae and Star Clusters, 1771 preliminary and 1774)

45 objects cataloged (and some discovered) by Charles Messier (1730-1817); with below additions, often referred to as Messier objects, Messier list, or Messier catalog

M[46-80] (1780)

included in version of above with 35 objects added by Charles Messier

M[81-103] (1781)

included in version of above with 23 objects added by Charles Messier

M[104-109] (1921-1950s)

included in version of above expanded to include 6 in unpublished notes of Charles Messier

M110 (1967)

included in version of above with object added based on notes of Charles Messier

H[1-1000]: Catalogue of Nebulae and Clusters of Stars (CN, 1786)

1000 objects cataloged by William Herschel (1738-1822) with assistance from his sister Caroline Herschel (1750-1848)

H[1001-2000]: (1789)

version of above with 1000 objects added by William Herschel and Caroline Herschel

H[2001-2500]: (1802)

version of above with 500 objects added by William Herschel and Caroline Herschel

Photographic Astronomy

Catalogs listed below were created approximately in the era after the invention and 1839 introduction of the word photography:

H[2501-5079]: General Catalogue of Nebulae and Clusters of Stars (GC, 1864)

version of above with 2579 objects added by William Herschel’s son John Herschel (1792-1871)

h[1-10,300]: General Catalogue of 10,300 Multiple and Double Stars (after 1871)

complement to GC, by John Herschel, published posthumously

NGC [1-7840]: The New General Catalogue of Nebulae and Clusters of Stars (1888)

compiled by John Louis Emil Dreyer (1852-1926)

IC [1-1520]: first Index Catalogue of Nebulae and Clusters of Stars (NGC/IC I, 1895)

supplement to above, adding 1520 objects

IC [1521-5386]: second Index Catalogue of Nebulae and Clusters of Stars (NGC/IC II, 1908)

supplement to above, adding 3866 objects

Mel [1-245]: A Catalogue of Star Clusters shown on Franklin-Adams Chart Plates (1915)

a catalog of 245 star clusters by British astronomer Philibert Jacques Melotte (1880-1961)

Cr [1-471]: On structural properties of open galactic clusters and their spatial distribution (1931)

a catalog of 471 open clusters by Swedish astronomer Per Collinder (1890-1974)

Electronic Astronomy

Catalogs listed below were created approximately in the era after the 1932 first detection of radio waves from space and 1937 first sky survey using radio astronometry:

HD [1-225,300]: Henry Draper Catalogue (1918-1924)

stars and their spectroscopic classifications by Henry Draper (1837-1882)

HDE [225,301-272,150]: Henry Draper Extension (1925-1936)

expanded above, classifying 46,850 more stars

HDEC [272,151-359,083]: Henry Draper Extension Charts (1937-1949)

expanded above, classifying 86,933 more stars

Sh1-[1-142]: first Sharpless catalog (Sh1, 1953)

list of H II regions (emission nebulae) compiled by Stewart Sharpless (1926-2013)

Sh2-[143-312]: second Sharpless catalog (Sh2, 1959)

expanded second and final version of above

The Revised New General Catalogue (RNGC, 1973)

compiled by Jack W. Sulentic and William G. Tifft

Herschel 400 Catalogue (circa 1980)

a subset of Herschel’s original catalog, selected by members of the of the Ancient City Astronomy Club in St. Augustine, Florida

NGC 2000.0 (1988)

compilation of the NGC and IC made by Roger W. Sinnott, using the J2000.0 coordinates

C[1-109]: Caldwell catalogue (1995)

compilation of the sky’s brightest deep-sky objects by Patrick Caldwell-Moore

The Revised New General Catalogue and Index Catalogue (RNGC/IC, 2009)

compiled by Wolfgang Steinicke

NGC/IC Project (1993-2017)

broad collaboration to identify all NGC and IC objects, correct mistakes, collect images and basic astronomical data