MAST Spectral Classes: 28,000 Stellar Observations from Multiple Catalogs

Roughly 28,000 astronomical observations, including novae and supernovae, were cross-correlated from the MAST Table of Representative Spectra with targets from the Skiff Spectral and Sky2000 catalogs and Simbad. More than 22,000 of these observations have assigned spectral types. The data was compiled by the National Aeronautics and Space Administration and last updated in March 2026.

Use Cases

• Train stellar classification models based on assigned spectral types for over 22,000 observations.
• Cross-reference and validate spectral data from multiple space telescope instruments like IUE, STIS, and FUSE.
• Analyze spectral characteristics of specific stellar phenomena like novae and supernovae included in the dataset.
• Study potential discrepancies in catalog cross-matching based on target names and coordinates.

Strengths

• Contains roughly 28,000 observations, providing a substantial sample size.
• Over 22,000 entries have assigned spectral types, offering a labeled subset.
• Aggregates spectra from ten different space telescope instruments, increasing data variety.

Limitations

• Column-level documentation is absent; field semantics must be inferred after download.
• Row count is unknown, which may limit suitability assessment.
• The description notes that a few cross-matches may be wrong due to the matching tolerance.

Provenance

Source

National Aeronautics and Space Administration

Collection Method

Cross-correlation of entries from the MAST Table of Representative Spectra with targets from the Skiff Spectral catalog, Sky2000 catalog, and Simbad, primarily based on target names and coordinates.

Freshness

Last updated 2026-03-13 17:12:41.217933; freshness should be verified.