'SCRIPT_NUMBER_ID' column disappeared in Simbad.query_region() after v0.4.8 update

[vsquicciarini]

Hello there,
it appears that the v0.4.8 of astroquery deleted the column 'SCRIPT_NUMBER_ID' when using the function Simbad.query_region(). The column, introduced here (#2047) was crucial to connect the unequivocally inputs and outputs of a query, by assigning each row a number corresponding to the i-th input region.

Apparently the column was renamed as 'object_number_id' in Simbad.query_objects() (#2954). However, no such column exists for Simbad.query_region().

Would it be possible to restore this column (even with a different name)?

Thank you in advance for your the consideration. :)

[keflavich]

@ManonMarchand I expect you'll have something to say on this?

(@vsquicciarini you should expect to wait ~a week to hear back on this at least, as the relevant folks are on holiday right now)

[ManonMarchand]

Indeed, there is now a single script even with multiple radii.

The behaviour could be mimicked just as in query_objects. What would be sensible, keep the historical name script_number_id or something closer to reality like center_number or center_number_id?

Edit: Might not be possible actually, cannot use an upload like in query_objects. Thinking about how to make it work, but a workaround is to cross match the output with the entry. Something using astropy's search_around_sky maybe. In that case, that'd be a documentation tip to explain how to interpret the results of query region:

from astropy.coordinates import SkyCoord
from astropy.table import Table, hstack
import astropy.units as u
from astroquery.simbad import Simbad
# let's do a query for two centers
simbad = Simbad()
centers = Table({"ra": [0, 1], "dec": [0, 1], "cone_number": [0, 1]})
coo_centers = SkyCoord(centers["ra"], centers["dec"], unit="deg")
regions = simbad.query_region(coo_centers, radius="0.1d")
coo_result = SkyCoord(regions["ra"], regions["dec"], unit="deg")
# here, we do the cross match
idx1, idx2, _, _ = coo_centers.search_around_sky(coo_result, 0.1*u.deg)
hstack([regions[idx1], centers[["cone_number"]][idx2]])

<Table length=51>
          main_id                     ra         ... cone_number
                                     deg         ...
           object                  float64       ...    int32
---------------------------- ------------------- ... -----------
                    PB  5669       0.04984129467 ...           0
              QSO B2357-003A     359.99988315297 ...           0
    SDSS J000351.87+010511.4            0.966156 ...           1
    SDSS J000421.84+005743.6       1.09105216744 ...           1
            SDSS-II SN 14480 0.01745833333333333 ...           0
Gaia DR3 2738341959609844992  0.9648817681758335 ...           1
            UCAC4 450-138351  359.91676860000007 ...           0
                    Z 382-15       0.03259767004 ...           0
    SDSS J000342.95+010109.2  0.9290047483600001 ...           1
                         ...                 ... ...         ...
     2MASX J00034546+0102404  0.9394874682400001 ...           1
               SDSSCGB 49921  1.0616666666666668 ...           1
            IRAS F23572-0021   359.9485833333334 ...           0
            SDSS-II SN 15730  359.92387916666667 ...           0
    SDSS J235951.01+000453.9  359.96257883642255 ...           0
Gaia DR2 2738345636100534016  0.9106980628416665 ...           1
  [LVO2003] J000355.2+005519  0.9800000000000001 ...           1
            UCAC4 455-000077  0.9549125032562502 ...           1
            UCAC4 455-000082  1.0003119072266666 ...           1
               MCG+00-01-014       0.01849340605 ...           0