stardid

Stardid is a neologism used mainly in amateur astronomy and online science-fiction discourse to describe the process of identifying stars within an image or dataset and linking each star to a catalog entry. The term functions as both a noun and a verb in informal use, as in identifying or tagging stars, and the resulting set of identifications may be referred to as the stardid results.

Origin and usage of the term are informal and not standardized. Stardid arose in online communities during the mid-2010s and is predominantly found in hobbyist forums, blogs, and discussions about image processing, astrometry, and world-building in fiction. It is generally juxtaposed with formal astrometric reduction, which occurs in professional astronomy using rigorous pipelines and published catalogs.

In practice, a stardid workflow typically involves detecting point sources in an image, deriving their astrometric coordinates, and attempting to cross-match these positions with catalogs such as Gaia DR3, Tycho-2, or UCAC. The process may incorporate matching tolerances, proper motion corrections, and consideration of color or magnitude information to reduce false positives. The outcome is a set of star identifications associated with coordinates and catalog IDs, usually accompanied by positional uncertainties.

Limitations and context: because stardid is informal, its methods and results are not part of formal astronomical standards. In professional settings, star identifications are documented through established astrometric pipelines and catalog cross-matching procedures. Stardid remains a descriptive term within hobbyist practice and speculative discussions rather than a formal technique. See also: star catalog, astrometry, Gaia mission.