Both methods provide equivalent results.
SsODNet.quaero is the core engine of SsODNet.
Its REST API allows to search for objects via
a query string
“mini-language”. The output response is formatted in the JSON data-interchange format.
SsODNet.quaero is dedicated to developers who want to implement a solar system object resolver
in their application (search for objects, name auto completion).
Read quaero documentation for more information.
SsODNet.resolver is the top-level
application dedicated to users. It allows to search for objects and to retrieve theirs coordinates in a single
request. The output response is written in various format (VOTable, JSON, text). Its Web service API can also be used
to implement a service on the client side.
The resolution of the name of a solar system object or an extrasolar planet can be achieved from its
official or provisional designation, or its number. The general syntaxe to request objects in
SsODNet.resolver is the following:
[<prefix>:][<operator>:]<name>
where <prefix> is one of the target types defined in the SsODNet data-model,
where <operator> is one of the recognized operators:
EQUAL (or =), LIKE or EXPR, and
where <name> is the number or the official or provisionnal designation of the target.
The prefix and operator elements can be ommitted.
In this case the name of the target is matched considering its name among all the known objects by string matching,
which is case-insensitive, uses the UTF-8 set of characters, and ignores trailing blanks (space, tab and new line)
and underscore. For example, a request -name=SsoName will search for a target with name or alias
equal to SsoName.
Examples:
Prefix
By adding a prefix to the name, the search can be limited to a given type of target.
The list of possible values of <prefix> is as follows:
a | Asteroid | p | Planet |
c | Comet | s | Satellite |
dp | Dwarf planet | sc | Spacecraft |
e | Exoplanet | sj | Spacejunk |
Examples:
The special prefix id can also be used to resolve the true name of a target,
i.e. the name given in the id field of the response.
Examples:
Operator
By default, the SSO name search is not case sensitive. The EQUAL operator allows you to make the search case sensitive.
This can be useful for searching for extended packed numbers, e.g. a0000 vs A0000. Without an operator both objects
will be retrieved by the search.
The EQUAL operator allows you to retrieve only the one that is requested.
Examples:
To search for a target based on part of its name, use the LIKE operator. In this case, the name is divided into elements
that are matched against the names and aliases in the SsODNet index. You can also use a prefix to limit the search to a specific type of object.
Examples:
The EXPR operator can be used to build complex queries incorporating wildcards, regular expressions, fuzzy terms, etc.
In this case, the name part of the query is sent to the SsODNet.quaero engine in order to match the expression to a pattern,
search for similar terms, exclude names, etc. This type of query should be used with caution as it can be particularly heavy, especially
if you request the celestial coordinates of objects.
For example, a query based on the pattern "EXPR:1998 ax4" retrieves more than 30,000 objects!
Note that with the EXPR operator, the prefix is not decoded. Therefore, to limit the search to a given type of objects,
this type must be explicitly specified in the query.
Examples:
For more information on how to compose queries, see the Extended search section of SsODNet.quaero
documentation.
The epoch must be formatted as a textual english date (in accordance with the
GNU syntax of dates),
or a julian day or an ISO 8601 date.
Examples (non exhaustive) of valid dates:
- now
- 2006-01-27T1:53:34
- 2453762.529467592
- 10 September 2000
- +1 day
- +1 week 2 days 4 hours 2 seconds
- next Thursday
- last Monday
The ephemeris of a Sso can be computed at any epoch in the period 973-06-04 12h (2076601.0) to 3026-07-25 12h (2826489.0).
The timescale is UTC.
Restriction: the seconds must be an integer number in the ISO format. For a time
resolution better than a second, please use the julian period.
Tolerance: the character 'T' of the ISO 8601 format can be omitted.