Why do searches sometimes return observations that fall outside the search radius?
Sometimes the search results include observations that fall outside the requested search area. This is the result of a shortcut in the search logic, which makes the searches as fast as possible but results in some inaccuracies. The results are guaranteed to include all observations that should be included; it never omits data that ought to be included. But it can also include additional observations due to a fuzzy outer search radius that depends on the orientation of the observation. For a 1 degree search radius, it is possible for observations as far as 1.4 degrees from the search position to be included. Note that zero-radius searches are accurate. A search using r=0 finds observations that actually cover the search point, and the approximation in the search logic does not affect that case. In the future we plan to fix this, assuming that we can identify an efficient algorithm that does not degrade the search performance. Until then you should be aware that HLA searches could includ
