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class="block block-block"> <div class="content"> <p style="background-color: #DDD; padding: 0 1em 0 1em">The Jan 28 release contained errors in the Galactic Extinctions tab; this bug was fixed on Feb 7 2200 UTC.</p> </div> </div>  </div>  <section id="content" role="main" class="clearfix"> <div id="breadcrumbs"><h2 class="element-invisible">You are here</h2><nav class="breadcrumb"><a href="/">Home</a> » About NED</nav></div> <form action="/Documents?page=Guides/Interface" method="post" id="ned-content" accept-charset="UTF-8"><div><div class="staticpage"><h2>Program Interfaces</h2> <p> Automated access to NED's Web services using computer programs and scripts is supported. Examples are provided below. However, NED's ability to support automated access involving large data volumes or high query rates is limited. Please adhere to the <a href="/Documents/Guides/Interface/QueryAuto">NED Guidelines for Automated Queries</a>. </p> <h3>Specialized NED APIs</h3> <dt><a href="/Documents/Guides/Interface/ObjectLookup" target="_nedInternal">Object Lookup</a></dt> <dt><a href="/Documents/Guides/Interface/GWF" target="_nedInternal">NED-GWF Web API</a></dt> <h3>IVOA APIs</h3> <p> <dt><a href="/Documents/Guides/Interface/sia" target="_nedInternal">NED Simple Image Access Service</a></dt> <dt><a href="/Documents/Guides/Interface/SEDservice" target="_nedInternal">Spectral Energy Distribution (SED) Service</a></dt> <dt><a href="/Documents/Guides/Interface/TAP" target="_nedInternal">NED VO Table Access Protocol (TAP) Service</a></dt> <dt><a href="/Documents/Guides/Interface/PythonNotebook" target="_nedInternal">NED Python Notebook Repository</a></dt> </p> <p> See also <dt><a href="https://heasarc.gsfc.nasa.gov/vo/summary/" target="_nedExternal">NASA Astronomical Virtual Observatories (NAVO)</a></dt> <dt><a href="http://www.ivoa.net/" target="_ned_external">International Virtual Observatory Alliance (IVOA)</a></dt> </p> <p> <b>Q: When I use a NED Form with scrollable lists of options, the default is always preset to a particular option. This forces me to exclude that option each time I use that list. Is there a way to have the list defaults in NED query pages automatically cleared of options?</b><br> <b>A: </b>This is the default behavior of NED (and any other Web site) when it is accessed with Internet Explorer: IE always highlights the first entry of each list it displays. If you access NED using Netscape Navigator, Firefox, Safari, or most other Web browsers, the default action is to display lists with no selections chosen. Unfortunately, this is a feature of Internet Explorer that we cannot easily program around, but we are working toward a solution. </p> <p> <b>Q: I have a list of thousands of objects which I'd like to run through NED. What is the easiest way to do this?</b><br> <b>A: </b>There are at least three methods that you should consider. <ul> <li> <a href="/byparams"> By Parameters Search </a> </li> <li> <a href="/forms/gmd.html"> Build Data Table from Input List By Name</a> </li> <li> <a href="/forms/nnd.html"> Build Data Table from Input List Near Name or Position</a> </li> </ul> </p> <p> Another option is to submit multiple URLs via "wget", "curl", or a similar download program designed to work with URLs. NED uses the HTTP "get" protocol whenever possible with query filters and options encoded as simple URL name/value pairs in the form "&name=value". In this case, you will have to substitute a plus sign "+" for a space, and the string "%2B" for a plus sign if either of these symbols appears in a name you submit. For example, the name "SDSS J122653.91+333057.6" becomes "SDSS+J122653.91%2B333057.6". Here are some other examples. </p> <p> 1) Retrieve basic data for Arp 220 and display it as a bar-separated ASCII table:<br> <tt> <a href="http://ned.ipac.caltech.edu/cgi-bin/objsearch?objname=arp+220&extend=no&out_csys=Equatorial&out_equinox=J2000.0&of=ascii_bar">http://ned.ipac.caltech.edu/cgi-bin/objsearch?objname=arp+220&extend=no&out_csys=Equatorial&out_equinox=J2000.0&of=ascii_bar</a> </tt> </p> <p> 2) Search for objects within 1.0 arcmin of Arp 220, sort them by their distances from Arp 220, and display their basic data as a tab-separated ASCII table:<br> <tt> <a href="http://ned.ipac.caltech.edu/cgi-bin/objsearch?search_type=Near+Name+Search&objname=arp+220&radius=1.0&out_csys=Equatorial&out_equinox=J2000.0&obj_sort=Distance+to+search+center&of=ascii_tab"> http://ned.ipac.caltech.edu/cgi-bin/objsearch?search_type=Near+Name+Search&objname=arp+220&radius=1.0&out_csys=Equatorial&out_equinox=J2000.0&obj_sort=Distance+to+search+center&of=ascii_tab</a> </tt> </p> <p> 3) Do the same 1.0-arcmin search, but from Arp 220's equatorial position for J2000.0, 15h34m57.1s, +23d30m11s:<br> <tt> <a href="http://ned.ipac.caltech.edu/cgi-bin/objsearch?search_type=Near+Position+Search&in_csys=Equatorial&in_equinox=J2000.0&lon=233.73798d&lat=23.50319d&radius=1.0&out_csys=Equatorial&out_equinox=J2000.0&of=ascii_tab">http://ned.ipac.caltech.edu/cgi-bin/objsearch?search_type=Near+Position+Search&in_csys=Equatorial&in_equinox=J2000.0&lon=233.73798d&lat=23.50319d&radius=1.0&out_csys=Equatorial&out_equinox=J2000.0&of=ascii_tab</a> </tt> </p> <p> 4) Retrieve photometric data for Arp 220 as a text table with bar-separated fields:<br> <tt> <a href="http://ned.ipac.caltech.edu/cgi-bin/datasearch?objname=arp+220&meas_type=bot&ebars_spec=ebars&label_spec=no&x_spec=freq&y_spec=Fnu_jy&xr=-1&of=ascii_bar&search_type=Photometry"> http://ned.ipac.caltech.edu/cgi-bin/datasearch?objname=arp+220&meas_type=bot&ebars_spec=ebars&label_spec=no&x_spec=freq&y_spec=Fnu_jy&xr=-1&of=ascii_bar&search_type=Photometry </a> </tt> <p> Many URLs like these may be put into a file named, for example, "getNEDdata.001". "wget" can then retrieve NED's data with a command like:<br> <tt> wget --continue --input-file=getNEDdata.001 --output-document=NEDdata.001 </tt> </p> <p> Note, too, that NED's data can be formatted as XML "Virtual Observatory" tables (VOTables). The first example URL above would return NED's data in XML format by substituting "&of=ascii_bar" with "&of=xml_main":<br> <tt> http://ned.ipac.caltech.edu/cgi-bin/objsearch?objname=arp+220&extend=no&out_csys=Equatorial&out_equinox=J2000.0&of=xml_main </tt> </p> </div><input type="hidden" name="form_build_id" value="form-rzWD4MKtGQRv61tg54qPmflmQtQkTiTwhNsT0LXyU7k" /> <input type="hidden" name="form_id" value="NED_content" /> </div></form> </section>  <div class="clear"></div>  </div>  <div id="footer">  <div id="footer-wrap" class="grid-container clearfix"> <div id="footer-one" class="grid-2"> <div class="region region-footer-first"> <div id="block-block-2" class="block block-block"> <div class="content"> <p>The NASA/IPAC Extragalactic Database (NED) is funded by the<br /> National Aeronautics and Space Administration and operated by the<br /> California Institute of Technology.</p> </div> </div>  </div>  </div> <div id="footer-two" class="grid-2"> </div> <div id="footer-three" class="grid-2"> </div> <div id="footer-four" class="grid-2"> <div class="region region-footer-fourth"> <div id="block-block-9" class="block block-block"> <div class="content"> <ul class="ned-sponsorlogos"><li><a href="http://ipac.caltech.edu/" target="_nedExternal"><img alt="IPAC" src="/Logos/IPACstyle/ipac.png" /></a></li> <li><a href="http://www.caltech.edu/" target="_nedExternal"><img alt="Caltech" src="/Logos/IPACstyle/caltech.png" /></a></li> <li><a href="http://www.nasa.gov/" target="_nedExternal"><img alt="NASA" src="/Logos/IPACstyle/nasa.png" /></a></li> </ul> </div> </div>  </div>  </div> <div class="clear"></div>  <div class="content"> <ul class="ned-mini-menu"> <li><a href="/Documents/Overview">About NED</a></li> <li><a href="/Documents/Overview/Acknowledgments">Acknowledging NED</a></li> <li> Connect with NED: <ul id="ned-social-menu"> <li><a href="/contact/NED"><img alt="EMail" src="/sites/all/themes/NED/images/social/email.png"></a></li> <li> <a target="_blank" title="facebook" href="https://www.facebook.com/NASAIPACExtragalacticDatabase"> <img alt="facebook" src="/sites/all/themes/NED/images/social/facebook.png"> </a> </li> <li> <a target="_blank" title="youtube" href="https://www.youtube.com/NASAIPACExtragalacticDatabase"> <img alt="youtube" src="/sites/all/themes/NED/images/social/youtube.png"> </a> </li> </ul></li> </ul> </div>  </div>   </div>  <div id="footer-bottom"> <div class="grid-container clearfix"> <div id="copyright" class="grid-2 no-btm-margin"> Copyright © 2025, <a target="_nedExternal" title="Caltech" href="http://www.caltech.edu/"> California Institute of Technology</a> </div> <div id="back-to-top" class="grid-2 no-btm-margin"> <a href="#top">back up ↑</a> </div> </div>  </div>  <a name="bottom"/> </div>   <script type="text/javascript" src="/sites/default/files/js/js_rhgMEtWWrUc1BWDS91k0qJ8Fj1NY2kp3iLE2R7vimjA.js"></script> </body> </html>