ACDS V10.0 - Detailed Description of V/50

ACDS V10.0 - Sun Jan 19 02:45:07 CET 2025

| # Detailed Description of V/50 : Bright Star Catalogue, 5th Revised Ed. (Hoffleit+, 1991) |

Note : this is the description file of the original catalog. This HTML page corresponds well to the original description, but some minor changes in the format may have been introduced in the FITS output files in order to allow for arithmetic operations on quantities such as coordinates and times. h:m:s and d:m:s units are normally converted into degrees, and YYYY-MM-DD into julian days.
Similarly, some slight changes may have been introduced in the units; the value given in the HTML files supersedes the value indicated in the ReadMe file for this catalogue.

    V/50           Bright Star Catalogue, 5th Revised Ed.     (Hoffleit+, 1991)
    ================================================================================
    The Bright Star Catalogue,  5th Revised Ed. (Preliminary Version)
         Hoffleit D., Warren Jr W.H.
        <Astronomical Data Center, NSSDC/ADC (1991)>
        =1964BS....C......0H
        =1991bsc..book.....H
    ================================================================================
    ADC_Keywords: Combined data ; Stars, bright

    Description (prepared by Wayne H. Warren Jr., 1991 June 28):

        The  Bright  Star  Catalogue  (BSC) is widely used as a source of
        basic astronomical and astrophysical data for stars brighter than
        magnitude 6.5.   The  catalog  contains  the  identifications  of
        included stars in several other widely-used catalogs, double- and
        multiple-star  identifications,  indication  of  variability  and
        variable-star identifiers, equatorial positions for  B1900.0  and
        J2000.0,  galactic  coordinates,  UBVRI photoelectric photometric
        data when they exist, spectral types on  the  Morgan-Keenan  (MK)
        classification   system,   proper  motions  (J2000.0),  parallax,
        radial-   and   rotational-velocity   data,   and   multiple-star
        information  (number  of  components,  separation,  and magnitude
        differences) for known nonsingle stars.  In addition to the  data
        file, there is an extensive remarks file that gives more detailed
        information  on  individual  entries.   This information includes
        star  names,  colors,  spectra,   variability   details,   binary
        characteristics,  radial  and rotational velocities for companion
        stars,  duplicity  information,  dynamical  parallaxes,   stellar
        dimensions (radii and diameters), polarization, and membership in
        stellar groups and clusters.  The existence of remarks is flagged
        in the main data file.

        The  BSC  contains  9110  objects,  of  which  9096 are stars (14
        objects catalogued in the original compilation of 1908 are  novae
        or  extragalactic objects that have been retained to preserve the
        numbering, but most of their data are omitted), while the remarks
        section is slightly larger than the main catalog.    The  present
        edition of the compilation includes many new data and the remarks
        section has been enlarged considerably.

        This  preliminary version of the fifth edition of the Bright Star
        Catalogue supersedes the published and machine-readable  versions
        of  Hoffleit  (1982, Yale University Observatory) and is intended
        for use until the final version of this edition is completed.  It
        has  been  made  available  only   for   dissemination   on   the
        Astronomical Data Center CD ROM.

        The  brief  format description applies to the preliminary version
        of the catalog only.   The  format  will  change  for  the  final
        edition.

    Author's addresses:
        Dorrit Hoffleit
            Department of Astronomy
            Yale University
        Wayne H. Warren Jr.
            ST Systems Corporation
            National Space Science Data Center
            NASA Goddard Space Flight Center

    File Summary:

           FileName      Lrecl  Records   Explanations

    ×                   80        .   This file
    × ReadMe            80        .   This file
    × catalog          197     9110   The main part of the Catalogue
    × notes            132     9190   Remarks

    See also:
        V/36 : Supplement to the Bright Star Catalogue  (Hoffleit+ 1983)

    Byte-by-byte Description of file:  catalog

       Bytes Format  Units   Label    Explanations

       1-  4  I4     ---     HR       [1/9110]+ Harvard Revised Number
                                        = Bright Star Number
       5- 14  A10    ---     Name     Name, generally Bayer and/or Flamsteed name
      15- 25  A11    ---     DM       Durchmusterung Identification (zone in
                                        bytes 17-19)
      26- 31  I6     ---     HD       [1/225300]? Henry Draper Catalog Number
      32- 37  I6     ---     SAO      [1/258997]? SAO Catalog Number
      38- 41  I4     ---     FK5      ? FK5 star Number
          42  A1     ---     IRflag   [I] I if infrared source
          43  A1     ---    r_IRflag *[ ':] Coded reference for infrared source
          44  A1     ---    Multiple *[AWDIRS] Double or multiple-star code
      45- 49  A5     ---     ADS      Aitken's Double Star Catalog (ADS) designation
      50- 51  A2     ---     ADScomp  ADS number components
      52- 60  A9     ---     VarID    Variable star identification
      61- 62  I2     h       RAh1900  ?Hours RA, equinox B1900, epoch 1900.0 (1)
      63- 64  I2     min     RAm1900  ?Minutes RA, equinox B1900, epoch 1900.0 (1)
      65- 68  F4.1   s       RAs1900  ?Seconds RA, equinox B1900, epoch 1900.0 (1)
          69  A1     ---     DE-1900  ?Sign Dec, equinox B1900, epoch 1900.0 (1)
      70- 71  I2     deg     DEd1900  ?Degrees Dec, equinox B1900, epoch 1900.0 (1)
      72- 73  I2     arcmin  DEm1900  ?Minutes Dec, equinox B1900, epoch 1900.0 (1)
      74- 75  I2     arcsec  DEs1900  ?Seconds Dec, equinox B1900, epoch 1900.0 (1)
      76- 77  I2     h       RAh      ?Hours RA, equinox J2000, epoch 2000.0 (1)
      78- 79  I2     min     RAm      ?Minutes RA, equinox J2000, epoch 2000.0 (1)
      80- 83  F4.1   s       RAs      ?Seconds RA, equinox J2000, epoch 2000.0 (1)
          84  A1     ---     DE-      ?Sign Dec, equinox J2000, epoch 2000.0 (1)
      85- 86  I2     deg     DEd      ?Degrees Dec, equinox J2000, epoch 2000.0 (1)
      87- 88  I2     arcmin  DEm      ?Minutes Dec, equinox J2000, epoch 2000.0 (1)
      89- 90  I2     arcsec  DEs      ?Seconds Dec, equinox J2000, epoch 2000.0 (1)
      91- 96  F6.2   deg     GLON     ?Galactic longitude (1)
      97-102  F6.2   deg     GLAT     ?Galactic latitude (1)
     103-107  F5.2   mag     Vmag     ?Visual magnitude (1)
         108  A1     ---     n_Vmag  *[ HR] Visual magnitude code
         109  A1     ---     u_Vmag   [ :?] Uncertainty flag on V
     110-114  F5.2   mag     B-V      ? B-V color in the UBV system
         115  A1     ---     u_B-V    [ :?] Uncertainty flag on B-V
     116-120  F5.2   mag     U-B      ? U-B color in the UBV system
         121  A1     ---     u_U-B    [ :?] Uncertainty flag on U-B
     122-126  F5.2   mag     R-I      ? R-I   in system specified by n_R-I
         127  A1     ---     n_R-I    [CE:?D] Code for R-I system (Cousin, Eggen)
     128-147  A20    ---     SpType   Spectral type
         148  A1     ---    n_SpType  [evt] Spectral type code
     149-154  F6.3 arcsec/yr pmRA    *?Annual proper motion in RA J2000, FK5 system
     155-160  F6.3 arcsec/yr pmDE     ?Annual proper motion in Dec J2000, FK5 system
         161  A1     ---  n_Parallax  [D] D indicates a dynamical parallax,
                                        otherwise a trigonometric parallax
     162-166  F5.3   arcsec Parallax  ? Trigonometric parallax (unless n_Parallax)
     167-170  I4     km/s    RadVel   ? Heliocentric Radial Velocity
     171-174  A4     ---    n_RadVel *[V?SB123O ] Radial velocity comments
     175-176  A2     ---    l_RotVel  [<=> ] Rotational velocity limit characters
     177-179  I3     km/s    RotVel   ? Rotational velocity, v sin i
         180  A1     ---    u_RotVel  [ :v] uncertainty and variability flag on
                                        RotVel
     181-184  F4.1   mag     Dmag     ? Magnitude difference of double,
                                        or brightest multiple
     185-190  F6.1   arcsec  Sep      ? Separation of components in Dmag
                                        if occultation binary.
     191-194  A4     ---     MultID   Identifications of components in Dmag
     195-196  I2     ---     MultCnt  ? Number of components assigned to a multiple
         197  A1     ---    NoteFlag  [*] a star indicates that there is a note
                                        (see file notes)

    Note (1): These fields are all blanks for stars removed from
        the Bright Star Catalogue (see notes).
    Note on r_IRflag:
      Blank if from NASA merged Infrared Catalogue, Schmitz et al., 1978;
          ' if from Engles et al. 1982
          : if uncertain identification
    Note on Multiple:
          A = Astrometric binary
          D = Duplicity discovered by occultation;
          I = Innes, Southern Double Star Catalogue (1927)
          R = Rossiter, Michigan Publ. 9, 1955
          S = Duplicity discovered by speckle interferometry.
          W = Worley (1978) update of the IDS;
    Note on n_Vmag:
      blank = V on UBV Johnson system;
          R = HR magnitudes reduced to the UBV system;
          H = original HR magnitude.
    Note on pmRA:
         As usually assumed, the proper motion in RA is the projected
         motion (cos(DE).d(RA)/dt), i.e. the total proper motion is
         sqrt(pmRA2+pmDE2)
    Note on n_RadVel:
         V  = variable radial velocity;
         V? = suspected variable radial velocity;
         SB, SB1, SB2, SB3 = spectroscopic binaries,
                             single, double or triple lined spectra;
          O = orbital data available.

    Byte-by-byte Description of file:  notes

       Bytes Format  Units  Label     Explanations

       2-  5  I4     ---    HR        [1/9110]+= Harvard Revised (HR)
       6-  7  I2     ---    Count     Note counter (sequential for a star)
       8- 11  A4     ---    Category *[A-Z: ] Remark category abbreviation:
      13-132  A120   ---    Remark    Remarks in free form text

    Note on Category: the following abbreviations are used:
        C   - Colors;
        D   - Double and multiple stars;
        DYN - Dynamical parallaxes;
        G   - Group membership;
        M   - Miscellaneous.
        N   - Star names;
        P   - Polarization;
        R   - Stellar radii or diameters;
        RV  - Radial and/or rotational velocities;
        S   - Spectra;
        SB  - Spectroscopic binaries;
        VAR - Variability;
        The category abbreviation is always followed by a colon (:).

    Historical Notes:
      * 02-Oct-1993 at CDS (Francois Ochsenbein)
        A few corrections have been inserted from the CD-ROM version
        "Selected Astronomical Catalogs, Volume 1, 1991, directory
        /combined/bsc5 at CDS with the agreement of Wayne H. Warren Jr:
        1. The spectral type for HR 6397 is from Walborn and contained octal 032
           (control-Z) characters instead of square brackets around the "n".
        2. Two remarks have been added for 6985 and 8817
        3. Byte 197 (NoteFlag) of "catalog" file corrected for stars
             202 7126 7482 7614 8982 (removed asterisk)
             285  342  841  843  991 1181 1553 1652 2269 2271 (added asterisk)
            2837 3133 3962 4522 4789 6692 7076 7328 8306 8667 (added asterisk)
      * 02-Nov-1995 at CDS (Francois Ochsenbein):
        Documentation slightly changed to accommodate to standards, and
        two lines which were inverted in "notes" have been replaced.
    ================================================================================
    (End)                                Francois Ochsenbein     [CDS]   02-Nov-1995