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The most recent versions of Mysql provide geospatial functionnalities. These extensions follow the OpenGIS specifications.
select * from events where ra_min < ra and ra < ra_max and dec_min < dec and dec < dec_max
The response time is around 0.35 second.
The following statement has been sent to the database :
select * from events where MBRIntersects(error ,
GeomFromText('POLYGON((ra_max dec_max, ra_max dec_min, ra_min dec_min, ra_min dec_max, ra_max dec_max)', -1))
The response time is 8.2 seconds.
An index has been built.
The response time is 0.004 seconds.