Search for the comprehensive list of hidden, dark celestial bodies in space
American astronomer Beverly Turner Lynds, born in Shreveport, Louisiana in 1929, spent her final years unraveling a celestial mystery – the identity of the astronomer in Walt Whitman's poem "When I Heard the Learn'd Astronomer." Her research led her to conclude that the astronomer in question was Ormsby MacKnight Mitchel.
However, Lynds is perhaps best known for her groundbreaking work on the Lynds' Catalogue of Dark Nebulae (LDNs), a comprehensive catalogue of 1,802 dark nebulae that she published in the Astrophysical Journal in 1962. This catalogue far surpassed previous efforts and is now considered a landmark in the field.
Lynds meticulously traced the outlines of each visible dark nebula on plates onto sheets of tracing paper for her catalogue. However, she did not record a single catalog number next to any of the traced outlines. This omission has led to challenges in identifying and correctly labelling these nebulae in images.
A new project is digitally annotating Lynds' original tracings to improve LDN identification. This process involves scanning her tracing sheets, opening the images in Photoshop, and roughly determining the coordinates of each tracing based on Lynds' original lines of right ascension and declination. Each dark nebula outline on the scanned sheet is then matched to the corresponding LDN listing by comparing its central coordinates, area in square degrees, and darkness rating as noted by Lynds.
The problem of LDN identification is more ubiquitous than you might think, with many published images incorrectly labeling LDNs. The Aladin Sky Atlas, for instance, sometimes misidentifies dark nebulae or places the identification crosshair over a blank region of background sky. PixInsight software, often used to identify LDNs, places labeled circles on images, but they are usually considerably offset from the actual nebulae.
The solution to the LDN identification problem is to identify and label each original tracing outline with its correct LDN number directly on scanned images. Once completed, the annotated images will be a visual resource that accurately identifies each LDN object and shows its shape just as Lynds originally defined it. This will greatly benefit astronomers and astrophotographers, enabling them to more accurately label images.
The collection of annotated images will be made publicly accessible to astronomers and astroimagers through platforms such as Astronomy.com and offered to institutional libraries for historical preservation. Improved identification of LDNs will not only enhance our understanding of these celestial phenomena but also honour the legacy of Beverly Turner Lynds, a trailblazing astronomer whose work continues to illuminate the cosmos.
[1] Source: https://arxiv.org/abs/2106.03827
- Beverly Turner Lynds, a pioneer in the field of environmental-science and space-and-astronomy, is known for her work on the Lynds' Catalogue of Dark Nebulae (LDNs), a comprehensive catalogue of 1,802 dark nebulae published in the Astrophysical Journal in 1962.
- In the process of digitally annotating Lynds' original tracings, researchers are roughly determining the coordinates of each tracing based on Lynds' original lines of right ascension and declination to improve LDN identification.
- Improved identification of LDNs will not only enhance our understanding of these celestial phenomena but also honour the legacy of Beverly Turner Lynds, a trailblazing astronomer whose work continues to illuminate the cosmos.
- The Aladin Sky Atlas and PixInsight software, often used to identify LDNs, have been found to sometimes misidentify dark nebulae or place the identification crosshair over a blank region of background sky, thereby highlighting the necessity for digitally annotated images for accurate LDN identification.
