Scientific & Editorial Policy

Where the facts come from, how each statement is labelled, how the site is checked and corrected.

Order of sources

For identity, position, distance, redshift and class we prefer the professional databases: NASA/IPAC NED, SIMBAD and VizieR (CDS), and the survey or mission that made the measurement. For the Solar System we use JPL and NASA mission data and the Astronomy Engine library. NASA ADS and the linked papers settle disagreements. Popular lists and encyclopaedias are used to find objects, never as the authority for a stated fact.

Every statement has a status

A statement on an object card is one of: measured or catalogued; calculated from measurements; estimated; a display choice; or illustrative. Where a row has a linked source, the Evidence view shows it. Many rows do not yet have a linked source. A row without a link is a gap in our documentation and is shown as one; it is not presented as sourced. We are filling these in; every row on the Sun, the Earth, the Moon and Mars has a record.

Counted on 21 September 2026: the object cards hold 1,411 rows on 264 cards. 842 rows (60%) have an evidence record with a status, and 630 of those link to an outside source. 569 rows (40%) have no record yet.

Structure is drawn from measurements

A feature is drawn because a catalogue or paper reports it: a bar, a ring, a tidal tail, a jet. Where a parameter of a measured feature is unknown, we assume one and the card says so. Depth along the line of sight is almost never measured and is always an assumption.

Dates

The data cutoff is shown in the About panel of the explorer. Catalogue values are as retrieved on or before that date.

Checking

Each release is tested by automated checks that compare calculated positions, eclipse times and catalogue values with reference data, and confirm that every shipped file has a source record. These checks find many errors and do not find all of them. No independent scientific reviewer has examined this site, and we do not claim one has.

The role of AI

The software and much of the explanatory text were written with AI tools, directed and checked by the operator. AI tools can state things that are false. That is why facts are taken from the sources above rather than from a tool’s memory, and why statements carry a status and, increasingly, a link.

Corrections

Send corrections to info@moneta-media.com with a source. A verified error is fixed in the next release.

Independence

The site carries no advertising and no sponsored content.