The Second Reference Dictionary of the Nomenclature of Celestial Objects

(Solar System excluded)

Volume II

Marie-Claire Lortet lortet@mesioa.obspm.fr DAEC, Observatoire de Meudon, F–92195 Meudon, France

Suzanne Borde borde@iap.fr DASGAL, Observatoire de Paris, F–75014 Paris, France

François Ochsenbein francois@simbad.u-strasbg.fr CDS, Observatoire de Strasbourg, 11, rue de l’Univserité, F–67000 Strasbourg, France

Contents

How to use this Dictionary iii

Introduction v

0.1 The Nomenclature of Celestial Objects . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . v 0.1.1 The IAU approach and the Dictionary as the reference work . . . . . . . . . . . v 0.1.2 Definition of the vocabulary . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . v 0.1.3 Open Problems . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . vi 0.1.4 Current trends in the Nomenclature . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . vii 0.1.5 A few basic (permanent) rules . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . vii

0.2 The Edition of the Second Dictionary . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . vii 0.2.1 Overview of the Second Dictionary . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . vii 0.2.2 Getting Electronic Copies of the Second Dictionary . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . viii 0.2.3 Getting Extracts of the Second Dictionary . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . viii 0.2.4 Improving the Second Dictionary . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ix

References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . x

1 Table of Acronyms 1–1

2 Comprehensive Catalogues 2–1

3 Coded References 3–1

4 Author Index 4–1

5 The On–line Dictionary 5–1 5.1 How to Query . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5–1 5.2 Other facilities . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5–2

6 Auxiliary tables and Annexes 6–1 Table 6.1: Wavelengths, Abbreviations, Types of Objects (col. 5 in Chap. 1) . . . . . . . . . 6–3 Table 6.2: Inventory of the formats . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6–4 Table 6.3: Typical formats (usual or recommended) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6–5 Table 6.4: Misleading formats (obsolete or disasterous•) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6–5 Table 6.5: Abbreviations of the names of Journals . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6–6 Table 6.6: Simplified Acronyms which are now common . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6–8 Table 6.7: Examples of Misleading Designations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6–9 Table 6.8: Nomenclature based on constellation names and individual names (References) . 6–10 Table 6.9: Three-letter abbreviations recommended for Constellation names . . . . . . . . . 6–11 Table 6.10: Greek letters . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6–11

This is a self-contained, revised and updated version of the First Dictionary and its Supplements, except for the Parts devoted to Individual Names and the Nomenclature based on Constellation Names which are not developed here.

How to use this Dictionary

The present work has been described by the authors in A&AS 1994 (in press). The present printed version is subdivided into two volumes: the Table of Acronyms in landscape format constitutes Vol. I; the introduction, and chapters 2 to 6 constitute Vol. II.

Most astronomical objects are named by an entry in some catalogue. These names generally consist of a word or acronym and a numbering which structure is called the format. To identify any object which is so named, the reader is referred to the main dictionary in Chapter 1 (Vol. I): Col.1 lists the acronym, Col.3 the format; Col.7 and 8 provide a key to the original references for each catalogue, as listed in Chapter 3. Papers are listed chronologically by year and alphabetically by first author’s first letter within each year. For any catalogue which was published as a series of papers, the first paper with catalogue entries appears in its apropriate chronological place in the table and all subsequent papers in the series follow immediately after the first. Thus all papers of a given catalogue appear together and the reader can refer to them for specific information on a given source.

The computerized Dictionary allows several facilities which are described at the end of the Introduction and in Chapter 5. Auxiliary tables and Annexes are collected in Chapter 6.

The nomenclature based on constellation names (e.g. Cas A, Mon OB2, etc…) and individual names as opposed to catalogue names are not described here; we refer the reader to Parts V and VI of the previous version (First Dictionary, Fernandez et al., 1983; Lortet & Spite, 1986) and to a few other general references (Table 6.8 of the present edition). The 3-letter abbreviations recommended for constellation names are given in Table 6.9.

The following Table compares the present edition of the Second Reference Dictionary of the Nomenclature of Celestial Objects with its description in A&AS 1994 (in press):

Second Reference Dictionary  A&AS paper On-line (*)
Chap. 1 Table of Acronyms (Vol.I ) Fig. 4 cati
Introduction  (Vol.II )
Chap. 2  Table of Comprehensive Catalogues  Fig. 5  compil
Chap. 3  Coded references  Fig. 6  ref
Chap. 4  Author Index  Fig. 7  cata
Chap. 5  The On–line Dictionary  Sec. 4
Chap. 6  Auxiliary Tables & Annexes:

Table 6.1 Wavelengths, Abbreviations, Types of Objects

                                                             —  (cato)

Table 6.2 Inventory of the Formats  Table 2  (catf)
Table 6.3 Recommended Formats  —
Table 6.4 Misleading Formats  Table 3
Table 6.5 Abbreviations for journals, translitteration — (journal)
Table 6.6 Very short usual designations  Table 4
Table 6.7 A sample of misleading designations  Table 5

Table 6.8 Individual names and Nomenclature based on Constellations

Table 6

Table 6.9 Abbreviations for Constellation names  —
Table 6.10 Abbreviations for Greek letters  —

(*) See Chapter 5 on how to get started with the On-line version of the Dictionary. The parentheses in the last column indicate that the on-line information is different in its aim or presentation: cato used alone gives a census of of the types of objects; journal gives the whole set of abbreviations

used for journals in SIMBAD.

Please report any error, comment or omission to one of the authors:

Suzanne Borde  borde@iap.fr
François Ochsenbein francois@simbad.u-strasbg.fr
Marie-Claire Lortet lortet@mesioa.obspm.fr

vi

Introduction

0.1 The Nomenclature of Celestial Objects

0.1.1 The IAU approach and the Dictionary as the reference work

The problem of the Nomenclature of Celestial Objects has repeatedly been dealt with by the relevant IAU Commissions and especially the Working group on Designations of IAU Commission 5 (Documentation and Astronomical Data).

The idea of a systematic census of the “names” created or quoted in the literature, developed at IAU General Assembly 1979, resulted in the publication of the First Dictionary (Fernandez et al. 1983), its Supplements (Lortet & Spite 1986, Borde & Lortet 1990b) and specialized documents for the Magellanic Clouds (Lortet 1986a) and M33 (Lortet 1986b). The Dictionary has since been computerized (the first step is described in Borde & Lortet 1990a) and updated. The present edition is the update as of January 1994.

For convenience, it is divided into two volumes: one in landscape format is devoted to the Table of Acronyms ; Vol.II (including this Introduction) describes the References, the Author Index, the On–line Dictionary, auxiliary Tables and Annexes.

On the other hand, the IAU Commissions gradually developed rules and recommendations: 1985 IAU Trans. XIXB pp 48, 49 and 40-42 (Memorandum on Designations, New Delhi 1985); 1988 IAU Trans. XXB IAU Style Book S46-47: recommendations to be published by the Editors as a complement of their instructions to authors, as in A&A Annual Index 1993 (A&A 280, A12-A14; useful illustrations are given there on page A15).

These guidelines also have to be continuously updated, as the nomenclature field is always changing, generating always new aspects: new weeds, new flowers and new ensnaring vines for the unsuspecting. Indeed it is becoming increasingly difficult to create a short, clear and unambiguous name, now that the development of high-sensitivity or high-resolution instruments make the definition of a source more difficult and that the number of detected objects increases almost indefinitely. Conversely, as a result of a desire to save time and space, many variations of the same name for the same object can be found in the literature: shortening or expanding the source abbreviation or the digits initially defined from the position, or interchanging the order of the numbers, etc..., all practices which add yet more confusion to the nomenclature problem: illustrations are given in Tables 6.4 and 6.7.

0.1.2 Definition of the vocabulary

A name may be short, long, structured or not: examples are the Orion Nebula, the Superantennae, DR21 (OH), NGC 1866, 6C B100814.8+745109, Geminga, etc…

A designation is a structured name basically made of an acronym (elsewhere named “origin”) and a numbering (elsewhere named “sequence”) which are both a string of alphanumeric characters. The structure of the numbering is called the format, as first introduced by Kesteven & Bridle 1977 (in their Table II), and detailed in Table 6.2. Examples of format are NNNN for a running number as in NGC, ±DD NNNN for a running number in a declination zone as in BD, JHHMMSS.ss+DDMMSS.s for J2000 coordinates as in 6C (5th paper), FFF-NNN for a running number in a field as in ESO, etc... A specifier can be added, as NGC 1866 (LMC), but should not normally be necessary for the identification. There should be one object per designation, or, stated in other words, a designation should be able to identify an object without any ambiguity. Unfortunately, many exceptions to this rule can be found, e.g. S147; other examples may be found in Table 6.6 and Table 6.7.

0.1.3 Open Problems

Definition of an object

The definition looks straightforward for stars — however many Radcliffe (R) or HD stars in the Magellanic Clouds are clusters or compact nebulae.

The definition has never been simple for radiosources, for which the basic material is maps, from which different lists of sources can be drawn depending on the software and the parameters (background, spatial resolution): see for instance: 8C (Rees 1988, Sect. 7.3); or compare the lists drawn from the same set of maps for BWE (Becker et al. 1991) and 87GB (Gregory & Condon 1991).

Other difficulties come from line of sight effects (discriminate one or several stellar clusters or associations), or from the definition of groups or clusters of galaxies, or of voids which depend on the completeness or deepness of the surveys, and on the clustering algorithms used. For instance Zucca et al. studied how different sets of superclusters can be defined depending on the density enhancement considered (from f = 1.5 to f = 400): see the remark for the acronym [ZZS93] in Chap. 1.

An object may look completely different at different wavelengths or at different spatial resolutions. Its type is therefore never definitive, as e.g. suspected planetary nebulae which were later found to be galaxies.

Number of digits in the numbering

Another difficulty is related to the number of digits used to designate unambiguously the source: it must be large enough to avoid any ambiguity,but not too large otherwise it will likely be truncated.

Examples of too few digits is SBS (Table 6.4C); and many QSOs in refs. 1993HB: there the context, but not the designation, makes which source is referred to.

Examples of many digits are found e.g. in 6C last catalogues: there the same source may receive two slightly different designations in the overlapping parts of two surveys.

Subcomponents

The problem of subcomponents in an extended source has not yet been given a satisfactory approach — nor solution .

Cross-identifications

There is no a priori limitation to the number of discovery lists so that the same object may be given an unlimited number of designations.

The problem of cross-identifications is not trivial: the different designations are rarely strictly synonymous. A reliable cross-identification should in principle be checked by specialists, but this task is time-consuming and perhaps not proportionnally rewarding. We emphasize the importance of such a work by collecting Comprehensive Catalogs in a separate Chapter (Chap. 2).

0.1.4 Current trends in the Nomenclature

There have been no drastic changes in the methods or habits during the past decade, except for (a) a major development of the numbering based on equatorial coordinates which makes up 12% to 16% of the formats, the more usual still being a running number very convenient for short lists, and (b) an increasing tendancy to shorten the designations (acronyms and numbering)

Concerning the numbering based on equatorial coordinates, be aware that these may refer to the equinoxes 1900 in exceptional cases (IDS, WDS), 1950 (the most common case as of 1993), or 2000 (more and more frequent, PSR, 6C). In this latter case, it is mandatory to precede the 2000 truncated coordinates by the letter J so that the same source may be quoted as

QSO 0001+478 = QSO B0001+478 = QSO J0003+481.

This system is also now systematically used for PSR: three new formats have been introduced by Taylor & Manchester (ref. 1993TM), namely BHHMM±DDA, JHHMM±DDA (provisory), and JHHMM±DDMM (as soon as the positional accuracy warrants the number of digits).

Shortening names most likely introduces an ambiguity, but may lead to disastrous results: does the designation BD11901 refer to +11^{∘} or +01^{∘} ? Other examples may be found in Table 6.7; see also Dubois & Lortet 1993, Dickel et al. 1993; more are in the comments or remarks of Chapters 1 and 3 of the Second Dictionary.

Ambiguities are not always the result of a bad usage, they sometimes exist in the catalog since its creation: the entry SBS 1210+537 (Markarian et al. 1985) exists in both Table 1 (galaxies) and Table 2 (blue stars) of that paper, and refer to two quite distinct objects.

0.1.5 A few basic (permanent) rules

In order to help avoid the traps described above, the following rules should be kept in mind when using or creating designations:

1. Always give two identifications, one can be the accurate positions. Redundancy helps for detecting errors.

2. Don’t shorten or change in any way a designation, once introduced. For instance don’t change the numbering even if it is subsequently found to be inadequate, except for clarification by adding B or J flag letters to specify the equinox. This recommendation applies also to individual names, and the Irish Nebula should not replace the Crab Nebula as proposed by Somerville (1988) with a definite sense of fun.

3. Choose the appropriate format (Table 6.2). If the numbering is based on equatorial coordinates, use B (for 1950) or J (for 2000) flag letters just before the coordinates to avoid the traps described in Table 6.4.

4. Give an acronym yourself, if possible in the first (not the 3rd!) paper of a series. Check for a free slot, by consulting the (updated) Table of acronyms (see Chap. 5). Don’t reuse an acronym previously introduced, even if it has become obsolete.

0.2 The Edition of the Second Dictionary

0.2.1 Overview of the Second Dictionary

The Dictionary basically includes discovery lists, but also those follow-up papers which give accurate positions, better clues to the structure (sub-components) or the type of object, new maps or photographs. It is to be emphasized that the present version does not make use of pieces of information only described on magnetic tapes: all the lists or catalogues described have been published on paper or at least their detailed description was published as a paper.

Priority is given to those papers in which a clear acronym, numbering system and description (position and identification chart) are given. We put some emphasis on comprehensive catalogs which compile different discovery lists into one catalogue: the existence of such compilations (e.g. Brey ref. 1981BR for WR stars in the LMC) allowed us to be very brief in the description of old or short lists (see the explanations for the Table of Comprehensive Catalogues in Chap. 2).

In the comments on the references (Chap. 3), emphasis has been put on the region explored, the numbering system, the existence (or absence) of identification charts and cross-identifications with previous lists.

Note however that the Dictionary is very incomplete in regards to astrometric lists, standard stars and stars inside clusters.

The following features are new compared to the First Dictionary:

• Catalog or survey names have been collected (e.g. TMSS Catalog : use the acronym IRC).

• Synonymous acronyms are collected, corresponding to the entry for the “main” acronym. e.g. Brey = (B) = BR = Br = BREY = Breys = Breysacher = JB.

• SIMBAD (Egret et al. 1991) acronyms and 19-figure reference codes are listed.

• X- and γ-ray sources, instead of being considered separately, are now included in the main tables.

• For lack of space, we did not prepare an update of the Nomenclature based on constellation names and of Individual names: refer to Parts V and VI of the First Dictionary and its First Supplement, and to other references listed in Table 6.8.

Otherwise, most of the elements of the former presentation have been retained. The major change is in the “landscape” presentation for the Table of acronyms which allowed the inclusion therein of SIMBAD (Egret et al. 1991) pieces of information, short notes, remarks and the lists of synonymous acronyms; this Table makes up Vol.I .

0.2.2 Getting Electronic Copies of the Second Dictionary

An electronic version of the Dictionary has existed for several years, as described by Borde and Lortet (1990a). The set of files described there has been converted into a more flexible structure which is used as the master source for the various presentations of this Second Edition: the present version making use of LaTeX, an ascii version close to the 1990 files described by Borde and Lortet (1990a), and an on-line version detailed below in Chap. 5.

The computer files in their various presentations: ready-to-print postscript files or latex source files; ascii files also designated *.dic files; and the master files; may be copied freely from the CDS via anonymous ftp at Internet node cdsarc.u-strasbg.fr, following the procedure described in the Editorial note in A&A Annual Index 1993 (A&A 280, E1–E2), in the directory /pub/dic2.

0.2.3 Getting Extracts of the Second Dictionary

We propose to build up and make available files — or printed documents for small lists — containing the excerpts from the Dictionary related to a “specialized” field, such as the Nomenclature in the Magellanic Clouds (Dubois & Lortet 1993) or the list of radio sources (Dickel et al. 1993), or the Supplements (entries added after a given date). Such documents can be generated on request; the request can be sent by mail or e-mail to one of the authors, or to the e-mail Internet address question@simbad.u-strasbg.fr or span address SIMBAD::QUESTION

0.2.4 Improving the Second Dictionary

• Notes or comments, especially remarks about possible errors or omissions in the on–line Dictionary, are welcome; these are better sent to the e-mail address

info@simbad.u-strasbg.fr or SIMBAD::INFO

• Puzzling or definitely anomalous cases may also be reported to the chair of the Designation IAU Task Group in Commission 5, or any member of the “Clearing House” (the list of its members can be found in the IAU Trans.)

Acknowledgements

We are grateful to A. Fernandez and F. Haslé who paved the way for the computerization of the Dictionary. We would especially acknowledge the permanent collaboration with the Institut d’Astrophysique de Paris librarians S. Laloe and C. Carpuat for the search for and decoding of new lists, old acronyms and various anomalies or tricks. It is a pleasure to acknowledge the frequent encouragements and advices of several colleagues, mostly of IAU Comm. 5. We are especially grateful for many efficient and illuminating exchanges with H.J. Andernach, H.R. Dickel and P.Dubois.

References

Becker, R.H., White, R.L., Edwards A.L. 1991, ApJS 75, 1 Borde, S., Lortet M.-C. 1990a, Bull. Inf. CDS 38, 35 Borde, S., Lortet M.-C. 1990b, Bull. Inf. CDS 38, 41 (2nd Supplement to the First Dictionary) Dickel, H.R., Lortet, M.-C., de Boer, K.S. 1987, A&A 68, 75 Dickel, H.R., Lortet, M.-C., Dubois, P., Ochsenbein, F. 1993, Astronomical Designations: What is ESO

103?, Proc. ESO/OAT International Workshop on Handling and Archiving Data from Ground-based Telescopes, in press

Dubois. P., Lortet. M.-C. 1993, Proc. Workshop New Aspects of the Magellanic Research Heidelberg

15-17 June, 1992, Eds. B. Baschek, G. Klare, J. Lequeux, 385. Egret, D., Wenger, M., Dubois P. 1991, Databases & On-Line Data in Astronomy, Ed. Albrecht M.A.

& Egret D., Kluwer Academic Publ., 79 Fernandez, A., Lortet, M.-C., Spite, F., 1983, A&AS 52, No.4 (First Dictionary) Gregory, P.C., Condon, J.J. 1991, ApJS 75, 1011 Helou, G., Madore, B.F., Schmitz, M., Bicay, M.D., Wu, X., & Bennett, J. 1991, Databases & On-Line

Data in Astronomy, Ed. Albrecht M.A. & Egret D., Kluwer Academic Publ., 89 Kesteven, M.J.L., and Bridle, A.H. 1977, J. Roy. Astron. Soc. Canada 71, 21 (Table II p. 31) Lortet, M.-C. 1986, A&AS 64, 303 Lortet, M.-C. 1986, A&AS 64, 325 Lortet, M.-C., Dickel, H.R. 1984, A&AS 56, 1 Lortet, M.-C., Spite, F. 1986, A&AS 64, 329 (1st Supplement to the First Dictionary) Markarian B.E., et al. 1985, Astrophysics 23, 623 Rees N. 1988, MNRAS 244, 233 Somerville, W.B. 1988, The Observatory, 108, 131 Towell, J.E. Acronyms, Initialisms & Abbreviations Dictionary. 13th ed. 1989, Gale Research INC.,

Book Tower, Detroit, Michigan 48226., Ed. Julie E. Towell. Vol.1. “A Guide to more than 450 000 Acronyms. Initialisms, Abbreviations, Contractions, Alphabetic Symbols and Similar Condensed Appellations”

Ward, M. 1987, The Observatory, 107, 268

Chapter 1

Table of Acronyms

The items entered into the Dictionary of Acronyms are as follows:

• Col. 1: Acronyms, in alphabetical order; note that a new kind of acronyms made of one to three authors’ initials and the year of publication between brackets (e.g. [BS92]) has been introduced in NED (Helou & al. 1991) and more recently in SIMBAD when no suitable acronym could be found; the brackets should not be dropped in such designations.

The “alphabetical order” is to be understood as follows: arabic or roman numerals before an acronym or just behind it have the same function as a serial number. The roman numerals before an acronym occupy one to four places and would lead to an unsuitable ordering of the acronyms, e.g. IV Zw with the letter I, VIII Zw with the letter V. Thus we wrote 4Zw , 8Zw instead of IVZw , VIIIZw, and classified e.g. PS VI (roman numeral) before PSC (three letters). For the ordering,we ignored the brackets.The following examples illustrate how the years, blanks or lowercase letters were taken into account:

1H

H [H28] [H80] H88 [H92] H1-H2-H 1-H 2-H2O HA Ha

• Col. 2: A comment on the usage of the acronym; it is

– a blank for the main acronym;

– use ... (a main acronym follows) e.g. B use Brey means that B is a bad acronym which should never be used because it would generate confusions

– eq. ... (a main acronym follows) eq. stands for equivalent to e.g. BREY eq. Brey means that we have chosen Brey as the main acronym for full information, refer to this throughout the book

– Catalog this is an abbreviation for a catalogue (not an acronym for a source), this catalogue has no systematic acronym.

1–2 Lortet M.-C., Borde S., Ochsenbein F.: The Second Reference Dictionary

1–1 – Catalog: use ... (a main acronym follows) e.g. SSSC Catalog: use IRAS . This means

that the sources studied in this catalogue have the acronym IRAS

• Col. 3: Format (see Tables 6.2, 6.3, 6.4 in Vol.II )

• Col. 4: Number of objects This is the number corresponding to the coded reference (col. 7 or 9). It is the total number if more than one reference is given in col.7 (or 9). This number may not take into account duplications.

A + sign may separate the object counts when only one entry is given though it may correspond to different formats and/or types of objects, as for BWI (112 RR Lyr stars and 9 eclipsing binaries), or SYHG (139 stars and 23 variable stars).

A / sign may separate the actual number of objects and the highest object number, as in LMC AGB.

There is no entry in this column in case of surveys or systematic designations, overlapping lists etc...

• Col. 5: Type of object

• Col. 6: Acronym used in SIMBAD

• Col. 7: Coded reference, refers to Chap.3 in Vol.II (Table of references), where the adopted scheme for these codes is detailed. In case of an acronym defined in a series of papers, note that the year refers to the first appearance of the acronym rather than to the year of actual publication: for instance, 1954H1 S which is the 18th reference, issued in 1984.

As a rule no coded reference has been affected to most acronyms collected in compilations (e.g. PK Nomenclature), to most of the acronyms between brackets, or to acronyms qualified as obsolete in Col.11.

• Col. 8: First author

• Col. 9: 19 digits reference code in SIMBAD ; the last digit is the first author’s initial, not a numeral! The abbreviations used for Journals in this code are given in Tables 6.5 in Vol.II .

• Col.10: Meaning of the acronym: acronyms are based on different ideas, namely: author’s initials or names (rarely first name); instrument or observatory; geographical place on the earth; localization in the sky; type of object; year of observations (87GB) or of publication; several uninformative words such as catalogues, of, etc.; numeral (roman or arabic) corresponding to a table, the rank of a survey etc. (ex. 6C).

• Col.11: Short note , or reference to a remark or to synonymous acronyms given in the lower part of the page.

The notes are usually : a qualifier for the acronym (discovery list, obsolete, systematic); a reference to a systematic nomenclature described in a Comprehensive Catalogue (PN Nomenclature refers to 1967PK and 1992AO); an explicit name when there is only one to three objects ; also the year of publication and the information about the availability of identification charts, for acronyms without coded reference; the relevant table number(s) of the papers quoted in Col.7 or 9 if necessary.

At the bottom of each page, synonymous acronyms corresponding to a main acronym and remarks are displayed; ambiguous synonyms (to be avoided) are enclosed in parentheses.

Comprehensive Catalogues

Each of the catalogues listed below provides a wealth of discovery lists, acronyms, references, crossidentifications, identification charts and/or improved parameters (positions, physical nature etc...).

All of the acronyms proposed there are not included in the Table of Acronyms. For instance, we rely on the regularly updated lists of QSO, QSO candidates, BL Lac objects (ref. 1980HB, 1987HB A and B, 1993HB; 1984VV to 1991VV) to provide lists or acronyms more or less widely used (see for instance the Remark for 1984VV A).

A new version of a catalogue (say for a given type of object) may be (a) a revision, superseding the numbering but not the previously published identification charts or cross-identifications ; (b) a continuation (new references issued since the last edition) (c) a completely new self-contained work, superseding the previous versions.

The comprehensive Catalogues have been given a special reference code with two letters (from author’s name or author’s initials) e.g. 1981BR where BR are from the author’s name Breysacher.

The Table is ordered as follows: Catalogues, Stars, star systems (clusters, associations), non-stellar objects (H II regions, Herbig-Haro objects, Galaxies, QSO ...), Atlas and Surveys. Inside each section, the ordering follows the alphabetical order of the type of object.

The columns of this Table are as follows:

Col.1 :  Type of object
Col. 2 and 3 : Date of publication and code number (as in the Table of References)
Col. 4 :  First author

Col. 5 and 6: Systematic acronym used in the Catalogue if any, and its format (the

most general one, if more than one format)

Col. 7 : Note: continued, revised, updated, superseded by or continues ... (see above)

2–1 2–2 Lortet M.-C., Borde S., Ochsenbein F.: The Second Reference Dictionary

A Catalogues of Catalogues

(1) (2) (3) (4) (5) (6) (7)
-  1977 1977CO COLLINS M.
Non stellar optical obj. 1980 1980DI  DIXON R.S.
Radio sources  1970 1970DI  DIXON R.S.
Stars positions  1978 1978ST  SEVARLIC B.M.+

Stars positions

1982 1982ST A SEVARLIC B.M.+
1982 1982ST B SEVARLIC B.M.+

B Stars

(1) (2) (3) (4) (5) (6) (7)
Am stars  1992 1992HA HAUCK B.

Ap stars

1984 1984CR A CATALANO F.A.+
1988 1984CR B CATALANO F.A.+
1991 1984CR C CATALANO F.A.+
1993 1984CR D CATALANO F.A.+
Ap stars  1991 1991RG A RENSON P.+
Ap stars: database  1991 1991RG B RENSON P.+
Ap, Am stars  1974 1974BF BERTAUD C.+
Ap, Am stars: errors  1988 1988RE A RENSON P.
Ap, Am stars: in OCL 1988 1988RE B RENSON P.
B stars  1992 1992GS GRILLO F.+
Barium stars 1983 1983LD LU P.K.+ LDUW NNN

Bright stars

1964 1964HF A HOFFLEIT D.  BS NNNN
1979 1964HF B HOFFLEIT D.  BS NNNN

updated by 1982HJ

Bright stars

1982 1982HJ A HOFFLEIT D.+  BS NNNN
1984 1982HJ B HOFFLEIT D.  BS NNNN
1992 1982HJ C PETERS A.R.+

updates 1964HF

Carbon stars 1989 1989ST STEPHENSON C.B. CGCS NNNN

Cataclysmic bin.

1984 1984RI A RITTER H.
1987 1984RI B RITTER H.
1990 1984RI C RITTER H.
Cataclysmic Variables  1993 1993DS DOWNES R.A.+

Central stars of PN

1982 1982AC A ACKER A.+  FC NNN
1982 1982AC B ACKER A.+  FC NNN
1983 1982AC C ACKER A.+  FC NNN
1984 1982AC D ACKER A.+  FC NNNbis
Del Sct stars  1990 1990LR LOPEZ DE COCA P.+
Double stars  1963 1963JV  JEFFERS H.M.+  IDS HHMM.mNDDMMA
Double stars  1984 1984WD WORLEY C.E.+  WDS HHMM.mNDDMM (1900)
Dwarf novae: atlas  1982 1982VB A VOGT N.+
Dwarf novae: astrom.  1992 1982VB B BRUCH A.+

Chapter 2: Comprehensive Catalogues 2–3

B Stars (cont.)

(1)  (2)  (3)  (4)  (5) (6)  (7)
Dwarf novae: north  1987 1987BF BRUCH A.+

Em. stars

1970 1970WA A WACKERLING L.R.
1977 1970WA B STEPHENSON C.B.+
Em. stars  1972 1972HR HERBIG G.H.+  HRC NNN  replaced by 1988HB

Em. stars

1988 1988HB A HERBIG G.H.+  HBC NNN
1992 1988HB B WEAVER Wm.+  HBC NNN

replaces 1972HR

General

1973 1973JB A JUNG J.+  CSI +DD NNNNN NN
1981 1973JB B OCHSENBEIN F.+  CSI +DD NNNNN NN

updated by CDS (Centre de Donnees de Strasbourg)

General

1990 1990LS A LASKER B.M.+  GSC FFFFF-NNNNN
1990 1990LS B RUSSELL J.L.+  GSC FFFFF-NNNNN
1990 1990LS C JENKNER H.+  GSC FFFFF-NNNNN
General: Hipparcos  1992 1992ED EGRET D.+

General: Hipparcos

1992 1992TC A TURON C.+  HIC NNNNNNA
1992 1992TC B TURON C.+  HIC NNNNNNA
LBV cand. in LMC  1988 1988LO LORTET M.-C.
Masers: 1612 MHz  1989 1989TL TE LINTEL HEKKERT P.+
Masers: stellar  1990 1990BL BENSON P.J.+
Masers: stellar, SiO  1989 1989EH ENGELS D.+
Masers: stellar  1988 1988CP CESARONI R.+  H2O LLL.ℓℓℓ+BB.bbb
Novae: galactic  1987 1987DU DUERBECK H.W.
OH/IR stars  1979 1979EN ENGELS D.
Photometry: DDO phe 1989 1989MN MERMILLIOD J.-C.+
Photometry: Eggen  1990 1990NM B NITSCHELM C.+
Photometry: Geneva  1981 1981RU RUFENER F.  updated by 1989RU
Photometry: Geneva  1989 1989RU RUFENER F.  updates 1981RU

Photometry: UBV

1977 1977MN A MERMILLIOD J.-C+
1983 1977MN B MERMILLIOD J.-C.

Photometry: UBV, stars in OCl

1984 1984ME MERMILLIOD J.-C.

Photometry: Walraven 1990 1990NM A NITSCHELM C.+
Photometry: ubvyBeta  1985 1985HM HAUCK B.+

Proper Motion stars  1979 1979LU LUYTEN W.J.  LP FFF-NNNN
Pulsars  1976 1976TD TERZIAN Y.+  PSR HHMM+DD

Pulsars 1981 1981MT MANCHESTER R.N.+ PSR HHMM+DD updates 1976TD, updated by 1993TM

Pulsars  1993 1993TM TAYLOR J.H.+  PSR JHHMM+DDMMA updates 1981MT
RR Lyr stars  1988 1988HE HECK A.

B Stars (cont.)

(1)  (2)  (3)  (4)  (5) (6)  (7)
Radial vel.: biblio  1986 1986BP BARBIER-BROSSAT M.+  continued by 1990BP
Radial vel.: biblio  1990 1990BP BARBIER-BROSSAT M.+  continues 1986BP

Radial vel.

1972 1972AB A ABT H.A.+
1975 1972AB B BARBIER M.
1977 1972AB C BARBIER M.+

continued by 1989BA

Radial vel.  1989 1989BA BARBIER-BROSSAT M.  continues 1972AB
S stars  1976 1976ST  STEPHENS0N C.B.  Stephenson NNN  updated by 1984ST A

S stars

1984 1984ST A STEPHENSON C.B.  CSS NNNN
1990 1984ST B STEPHENSON C.B.  CSS2- NN

updates 1976ST

Spectroscopic bin.  1967 1967BA BATTEN A.H.  SB NNN  superseded by 1978BF

Spectroscopic bin.

1978 1978BF BATTEN A.H.+ Batten NNN supersedes 1967BA, updated by 1989BF

Spectroscopic bin.  1989 1989BF BATTEN A.H.+  updates 1978BF
Stars  1974 1974EC EICHHORN H.  AC +DD NNNN
Stars in LMC  1978 1978RM ROUSSEAU J.+
Stars in SMC  1982 1982AZ AZZOPARDI M.+  AzV NNNa

Stars, compact Obj.

1977 1977BF A BERGER J.+  PB NNNN
1980 1977BF B BERGER J.+  PB NNNN
1984 1977BF C BERGER J.+  PB NNNN
Supernovae  1974 1974SS  SARGENT W.L.W.+  SN YYYYA  superseded by 1984BC

Supernovae 1984 1984BC BARBON R.+ SN YYYYA updates and revises 1974SS, superseded by 1989BC

Supernovae  1989 1989BC BARBON R.+  SN YYYYA  supersedes 1984BC

Susp. Var. stars

1951 1951KP A KUKARKIN B.V.+  CSV NNNNNN
1965 1951KP B KUKARKIN B.V.+  CSV NNNNNN

superseded by 1982KH

Susp. Var. stars  1982 1982KH KHOLOPOV P.N.  NSV NNNNN  supersedes 1951KP
Symbiotic stars  1984 1984AL ALLEN D.A.

Var. stars

1969 1969KK A KUKARKIN B.V.+  V AA CCC
1971 1969KK B KUKARKIN B.V.+  V AA CCC
1972 1969KK C KUKARKIN B.V.+  V AA CCC
1972 1969KK D KUKARKIN B.V.+  V AA CCC
1974 1969KK E KUKARKIN B.V.+  V AA CCC
1976 1969KK F KUKARKIN B.V.+  V AA CCC

3rd edition: superseded by 1985KS

Var. stars

1985 1985KS A KHOLOPOV P.N.+  V AA CCC
1985 1985KS B KHOLOPOV P.N.+  V AA CCC
1987 1985KS C KHOLOPOV P.N.+  V AA CCC
1990 1985KS D KHOLOPOV P.N.+  V AA CCC

4th edition: supersedes 1969KK

WD

1977 1977MS A McCOOK G.P.+  WD HHMM+DDA
1980 1977MS B LIEBERT J.+  WD HHMM+DDA

superseded by 1984MS

WD  1984 1984MS McCOOK G.P.+  WD HHMM+DDdA  supersedes 1977MS

B Stars (cont.)

(1)  (2)  (3)  (4)  (5) (6)  (7)
WD  1987 1987MS McCOOK G.P.+  WD HHMM+DDd  complements 1984MS

WR

1981 1981VH A VAN DER HUCHT K.A.+ WR NNN
1988 1981VH B VAN DER HUCHT K.A.+ WR NNNa
1991 1981VH C CRAWFORD I.A.+  WR NNNa
1991 1991S1  SHARA M.M.+  WR NNNa

WR in LMC

1981 1981BR A BREYSACHER J.  BREY NNNa
1991 1981BR B LORTET M.-C.  BREY NNNa
1990 1981BR C HEYDARI-MALAYERI M.+ BREY NNNa
1991 1981BR D MOFFAT A.F.J.  BREY NNNa

C Stellar Systems

(1)  (2)  (3)  (4)  (5) (6)  (7)

Globular clusters

1970 1970AR A ALTER G.+  GCl- NNN.N
1981 1970AR B RUPRECHT J.+  GCl- NNN.N
Globular clusters  1985 1985WE WEBBINK R.F.  C HHMM+DDd

Open clusters

1970 1970AR A ALTER G.+  OCl- NNNN.N
1981 1970AR B RUPRECHT J.+  OCl- NNNN.N

Open clusters

1979 1979LY A LYNGA G.  C HHMM+DDd
1982 1979LY B LYNGA G.  C HHMM+DDd
1983 1979LY C LYNGA G.  C HHMM+DDd

Open clusters

1987 1987LY A LYNGA G.  C HHMM+DDd
1988 1987LY B JANES K.A.+  C HHMM+DDd

updates 1979LY+

Open clusters  1988 1988LE LEISAWITZ D.  OCl- NNN.N

Stellar ass.

1970 1970AR A ALTER G.+  Ass- NN.N
1981 1970AR B RUPRECHT J.+  Ass- NN.N

D Non-stellar objects (galactic or extra-galactic)

(1)  (2)  (3)  (4)  (5) (6)  (7)

BL Lac

1987 1987HB A HEWITT A.+  BL HHMM+DDd
1989 1987HB B HEWITT A.+  BL HHMM+DDd

revised and updated by 1993HB

BL Lac 1993 1993HB HEWITT A.+ BL HHMM+DDd revises and updates 1987HB

Bipolar nebulae  1978 1978CC CALVET N.+
Clusters of galaxies  1982 1982FM FERNANDEZ A.+
Clusters of galaxies  1984 1984KU KOWALSKI M.P.+

Clusters of galaxies

1989 1989AC ABELL G.O.+  ACO NNNN

                                          ACOS NNNN

extension to the South and revision of 1958A1

Clusters of galaxies  1992 1992LN LUMSDEN S.L.+  EDCC NNN
Cometary nebulae  1979 1979PP PARSAMIAN E.S.+  PP NNN
Galactic nebulae  1985 1985NV NECKEL Th.+  GN HH.MM.m.NN

D Non-stellar objects (galactic or extra-galactic) (cont.)

(1)  (2)  (3)  (4)  (5) (6)  (7)

Galaxies

1989 1989PF A PATUREL G.+  PGC NNNNN
1989 1989PF B PATUREL G.+  PGC NNNNN
1990 1989PF C PATUREL G.+  PGC NNNNN
1990 1989PF D BOTTINELLI L.+  PGC NNNNN
1991 1989PF E PATUREL G.  PGC NNNNN
1992 1989PF F BOTTINELLI L.+  PGC NNNNN
Galaxies: atlas  1987 1987TU A TULLY R.B.+  NBG FN-NN N
Galaxies: bright  1981 1981ST  SANDAGE A.+

Galaxies: bright 1991 1991DV DE VAUCOULEURS G.+ RC3 catalogue; updates the RC2 catalogue, ref. 1976D3.

Galaxies: catalog  1987 1987TU B TULLY R.B.  NBG FN-NN N
Galaxies: catalog  1992 1992FK FABBIANO G.+
Galaxies: Markarian  1986 1986MB MAZZARELLA J.M.+  MRK NNNN
Galaxies: Markarian  1989 1989ML MARKARIAN B.E.+  MRK NNNN
Galaxies: pec.  1987 1987AM ARP H.C.+  AM HHMM-DD\underline{M}
Groups of galaxies  1987 1987TU C TULLY R.B.  NBGCG FN-NN
H II regions  1974 1974MA MARSALKOVA P.  Marsalkova NNN
Herbig-Haro obj.  1988 1988VH VON HIPPEL T.+  HH NNN
High-vel. clouds  1991 1991WV WAKKER B.P.+  WV NNN
Masers: non stellar  1979 1979TU TURNER B.E.  OH LLL.ℓ+BB.b
Masers: non stellar  1983 1983BE BRAZ M.A.+
Masers: non stellar  1988 1988CP CESARONI R.+  H2O HHMM+DD

Planetary nebulae

1967 1967PK A PEREK L.+  PK LLL+BB N
1977 1967PK B ACKER A.+  PK LLL+BB N
1977 1967PK C WEINBERGER R.  PK LLL+BB N
1981 1967PK D ACKER A.+  PK LLL+BB N
1976 1967PK E SANDULEAK N.  PK LLL+BB N
1983 1967PK F ACKER A.+  PK LLL+BB N
1978 1967PK G KOHOUTEK L.  PK LLL+BB N
1983 1967PK H KOHOUTEK L.  PK LLL+BB N
1983 1967PK I LUTZ J.H.+  PK LLL+BB N
1985 1967PK J KOHOUTEK L.+  PK LLL+BB N
1985 1967PK K WEST R.M.+  PK LLL+BB N
1989 1967PK L KOHOUTEK L.  PK LLL+BB N
1990 1967PK M ACKER A.+  PK LLL+BB N
Planetary nebulae  1992 1992AO ACKER A.+  PN GLLL.ℓ+BB.b  updates 1967PK+
QSO  1980 1980HB HEWITT A.+  QSO HHMM+DDdA  updated by 1987HB
QSO  1982 1982BC BARBIERI C.+  QSO HHMM.m+DDMM

QSO

1987 1987HB A HEWITT A.+  QSO HHMM+DDdA
1989 1987HB B HEWITT A.+  QSO HHMM+DDdA

updates 1980HB, revised and updated by 1993HB D Non-stellar objects (galactic or extra-galactic) (cont.)

(1)  (2)  (3)  (4)  (5) (6)  (7)

QSO 1993 1993HB HEWITT A.+ QSO HHMM+DDdA revises and updates 1987HB

QSO, BL Lac  1984 1984VV VERON-CETTY M.-P.+  superseded by 1985VV
QSO, BL Lac  1985 1985VV VERON-CETTY M.-P.+  supersedes 1984VV
QSO, BL Lac  1987 1987VV VERON-CETTY M.-P.+  supersedes 1985VV
QSO, BL Lac  1989 1989VV VERON-CETTY M.-P.+  supersedes 1987VV
QSO, BL Lac  1991 1991VV VERON-CETTY M.-P.+  supersedes 1989VV
QSO, BL Lac  1993 1993VV VERON-CETTY M.-P.+  supersedes 1991VV

SNR: galactic

1973 1973VM A VAN DEN BERGH S.+
1978 1973VM B VAN DEN BERGH S.

SNR: galactic 1984 1984GR GREEN D.A. SNR LLL.ℓ+BB.b revised and updated by 1988GR

SNR: galactic

1988 1988GR A GREEN D.A.  SNR LLL.ℓ+BB.b
1989 1988GR B ARENDT R.G.  SNR LLL.ℓ+BB.b

revises and updates 1984GR

SNR: radio  1976 1976CC CLARK D.H.+  superseded by 1979ML
SNR: radio  1979 1979ML MILNE D.K.  supersedes 1976CC
Stars forming regions  1991 1991RE REIPURTH B.+

E Atlases and Surveys

(1)  (2)  (3)  (4)  (5) (6)  (7)

(IR)

1982 1982GS A GEZARI D.Y.+
1982 1982GS B GEZARI D.Y.+

preliminary edition: superseded by 1984GS

(IR)

1984 1984GS A GEZARI D.Y.+
1987 1984GS B SCHMITZ M.+

1st edition: supersedes 1982GS, updated by 1987GS

(IR)

1987 1987GS A GEZARI D.Y.+
1988 1987GS B GEZARI D.Y.+

2nd edition: updates 1984GS, updated by 1993GS

(IR)

1993 1993GS A GEZARI D.Y.+
1993 1993GS B GEZARI D.Y.+

3nd edition: updates 1987GS

(IR)  1985 1985IR A -  IRAS HHMM+DDdPNN obsoleted by 1988BN

(IR)

1985 1985IR B - IRAS HHMMm+DDMMA PSC catalog; superseded by 1988IR

(IR)  1986 1985IR C KLEINMANN S.G.+  IRAS HHMMm+DDMMA SSC catalog

(IR)

1985 1985IR D HELOU G.+ IRAS HHMMm+DDMMA SSSC catalog; obsoleted by 1988HW

(IR)  1985 1985IR E LONSDALE C.J.+  IRAS HHMMm+DDMMA obsoleted by 1989FL
(IR)  1986 1985IR F OLNON F.M.+  IRAS HHMMm+DDMMA LRS catalog
(IR)  1988 1985IR G DE MUIZON M.+  IRAS HHMMm+DDMMA
(IR)  1989 1985IR H DEUL E.R.+  IRAS HHMMm+DDMMA

E Atlases and Surveys (cont.)

(1)  (2)  (3)  (4)  (5) (6)  (7)
(IR)  1989 1985IR I CHEESEMAN P.+  IRAS HHMMm+DDMMA
(IR)  1988 1988BN BEICHMAN C.A.+  IRAS HHMMm+DDMMA obsoletes 1985IR A

(IR)

1988 1988HW HELOU G.+ IRAS HHMMm+DDMMA SSSC catalog; obsoletes 1985IR D

(IR)

1988 1988IR  -  IRAS HHMMm+DDMMA

PSC catalog; obsoletes 1985IR B

(IR)  1989 1989FL  LONDSALE C.J.+  IRAS HHMMm+DDMMA obsoletes 1985IR E
(IR)  1989 1989MK MOSHIR M.+  IRAS HHMMm+DDMMA FSS catalog
(IR) in the MC  1990 1990SI  SCHWERING P.B.W.+
(Opt)  1982 1982LA LAUBERTS A.  ESO HHMMSS+DDMM.m
(Rad)  1990 1990WH WALTER H.G.+
(X)  1982 1982AM AMNUEL P.R.+  2XRS HHMM+DDd
(X)  1983 1983BM BRADT H.V.D.+  X HHMM+DDd
(X)  1984 1984WM WOOD K.S.+  H HHMM+DDd
(Soft X)  1983 1983NJ  NUGENT J.J.+  H HHMM+DD

Atlas = identif. charts 1981 1981DG DIXON R.S.+ contains all objects of 1980DI

Atlas of LMC  1967 1967HW HODGE P.W.+
Atlas of LMC  1983 1983MO MOREL M.
Atlas of Orion nebula  1981 1981AG ANDREWS A.D.+
Atlas of SMC  1977 1977HW HODGE P.W.+
Atlas of SMC  1989 1989MO MOREL M.

Coded References

This is the description of the References given in Col. 7 of the Table of Acronyms (Chap. 1) and Col. 3 of the Table of Comprehensive Catalogues.

The references are ordered by year and, inside the same year, by the first author’s initial followed by a serial number (or by a second letter for the Comprehensive Catalogue collected above; this letter is ordered before the serial number, e.g. 1974BF is followed by 1974B1, 1974B2...).

The year is generally the year of first introduction of the corresponding acronym. Thus, the acronym LKHA (= LkHα) was introduced in 1954 and continued in several publications; the corresponding references are coded 1954H1 A (1st publication, issued in 1954), 1954H1 B,..., 1954H1 S (issued in 1984). For the acronym HH introduced in 1974, the reference issued in 1992 is the 27^{th} and is numbered 1974H2AA.

In the right column only the main acronym(s) (“main” as explained for the Table of Acronyms) is given. In the case of several acronyms introduced in different Tables of the same paper, the acronyms are written on the line where the relevant Table is described, instead of the first line(s).

In the comments, since about 1987, special emphasis has been given on quoting the existence (year) of coordinates, the presence (or absence) of identification charts.

Remark: the reference codes published in the previous versions (Fernandez et al. 1983; Lortet & Spite 1986), have not been modified, except in a few cases (mostly the references related to the Comprehensive Catalogues).

3–1 3–2 Lortet M.-C., Borde S., Ochsenbein F.: The Second Reference Dictionary

Author Index

The Author Index is similar to the index of the First Dictionary (1983 and 1986). For each author (col.1), it gives the corresponding reference codes (col.2 and 3) and the main acronyms (if any) (col.4).

The Author names are arranged alphabetically taking into account only the first letter of the first name (e.g. P. for Hodge P.W.). The symbol + is used when there is more than one author, as in Col.8 of the Table of Acronyms. The ordering is explained by the following example:

Hodge P. (or P.W.) (one author) or Hodge P.+ (or P.W.+) (first author)

+Hodge P. (or P.W.) (one of two or several authors, not the first).

Within these two groupings, the references are ordered by year. (Notice that van der Hucht, ... de Vaucouleurs ..., are classified with V, ...D... letters).

The reference is characterized by its 8-digit code number, as explained in Chap. 3, and/or its SIMBAD 19-figure code.

The acronyms quoted here are the “main” ones as defined for the Table of Acronyms: no synonyous acronyms are given here. On the other hand, when a reference contains two or more “main acronyms”, all are quoted, separated by a comma.

4–1 4–2 Lortet M.-C., Borde S., Ochsenbein F.: The Second Reference Dictionary

The On–line Dictionary

For the convenience of the user, we have provided open access to an “On-line” version of the Dictionary. Although currently not quite as complete nor as thoroughly checked as the full presentation in the hard-copy Reference Dictionary, the On-line Dictionary does have the advantage of being “up-to-date” and has the flexibility to include future improvements in content and style of presentation as they become available. The On-line facility is available on the Internet node simbad.u-strasbg.fr (130.79.128.4), or SPAN node SIMBAD (29588 = 28.916), and info is the key to enter into the On-line Dictionary.

5.1 How to Query

The query facility which is started immediately after a successive login into this info account (no password is required) and a first introductive screen currently allows six modes detailed below; the results of the queries can be displayed either in full mode (–l option), or in a short tabular form, as in Fig. cati. The tabular form is more convenient to get an overview on a bunch of acronyms, while the full mode displays everything connected to the selected item (e.g. acronym, author), including full title and remarks of all source papers.

The columns of the tabular form (example of Fig. cati) include 6 out of the 11 items described in the Table of Acronyms (Chap. 1, Vol.I ), namely:

• Col.1: Acronym: the acronym is enclosed between parentheses when its usage would generate confusions; it is then followed by the recommended acronym.

• Col.2: Use Format: the left part of this column contains the recommended acronym when the one in column 1 is ambiguous (then between parentheses) or not recommended . The right part indicates the format (see Table 6.2)

• Col.3: Ref. is the coded reference (see Chap. 3); it is followed by a + sign when if refers to more than one publications.

• Col.4: 1st Author; a + sign indicates the existence of co-authors

• Col.5: Type Obj. indicate the type of objects in the catalogue

In the full mode (with the –l option), all details related to the selected items are displayed, including the authors and full titles of the related papers, and also the associated comments.

The different possible query modes are to be specified after the info prompt are given below. The square brackets indicate permitted options. Including the option –l yields a more detailed response.

5–1 1. [–l] cati acro

allows the retrieval of all referenced acronyms starting with acro. Fig. cati illustrates the output resulting from the question cati br : in the first column the acronym is enclosed between parentheses when its usage would generate confusion, and is then followed by the recommended acronym. The other columns (Format, Ref., etc..) are similar to the corresponding columns in Chap. 1; however, a + sign added at the end of the reference code means that the code refers to several references.

Fig. cati-1 shows the result of the query with the –l option applied to the ACO acronym.

2. ref reference code details any of the references mentioned in the Ref. column of Fig. cati or in Column 7 of the printed Dictionary (see Chap. 1): author, title, comments. Fig. 1981BR shows the result when details about the reference 1981BR are requested.

3. [–l] cata author allows the retrieval of all referenced papers where the first author’s name starts with what is typed.

4. [–l] cato object type allows the retrieval of all referenced acronyms where the object type is specified; without object type argument, the command lists the existing types.

5. [–l] catf format allows the retrieval of all referenced acronyms where the typed-in word format is a combination of the formats listed in Table 6.2.

6. [–l] cat word [word...] gives information connected to the combination of the user-specified words. Those papers which contain the combination of the words, in the title or remarks to the corresponding source papers, are displayed. It should be noticed however that a word is at least three characters, and that only the first six characters of a word are taken into account.

The querying facilities will most likely evolve in the future; additions and modification of these facilities will be announced in the introductory screen of the info account.

5.2 Other facilities

As proposed in (section 0.2.3) of the Introduction, excerpts from the Dictionary related to a “specialized” field may be created on request sent to one of the authors, or to the e-mail Internet address question@simbad.u-strasbg.fr. The resulting electronic files would be made available on the network on the same location as the Second Dictionary (section 0.2.2),

A Mosaic access to the “On-line” version of the Second Dictionary is presently investigated; its access will be announced in the Mosaic pages of the Centre de Données de Strasbourg (CDS) at the URL address:

http://cdsweb.u-strasbg.fr/CDS.html

Chapter 5: The On–line Dictionary 5–3

Figure 5.1: Result of Query cati br on the On–line Dictionary

-------------------------------------------------------------------------
Acronym      Use Format             Ref.     1st Author       Type Obj.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
BR          Brun FFF-NNNN           1957B1   BRUN A.          *
(BR)        Brey NNNa               1981BR+  BREYSACHER J.    WR in LMC
(Br)   Brodskaja NNN                1953B1   BRODSKAJA Eh.S.  OB *
(Br)   Brodskaja NNNN               1955B3   BRODSKAJA Eh.S.  *
Br          Brun FFF-NNNN           1957B1   BRUN A.          *
(Br)        Brey NNNa               1981BR+  BREYSACHER J.    WR in LMC
BRABCMS-         N                  -        VAN DEN BERGH S. PN
Braes            NNNN               1967B3   BRAES L.L.E.     *
BRAID            NNN                1978B2   BRAID M.K.+      Cluster of G
BRAN             NNNA               1986B1   BRAND J.+        Neb. Obj.
BREY        Brey NNNa               1981BR+  BREYSACHER J.    WR in LMC
Brey             NNNa               1981BR+  BREYSACHER J.    WR in LMC
Breys       Brey NNNa               1981BR+  BREYSACHER J.    WR in LMC
Breysacher  Brey NNNa               1981BR+  BREYSACHER J.    WR in LMC
BRHT             NNa                1991B1   BHATIA R.K.+     Binary Cl* in LMC
Brodskaja        NNN                1953B1   BRODSKAJA Eh.S.  OB *
Brodskaja        NNNN               1955B3   BRODSKAJA Eh.S.  *
Bru           BI NNN                1975B1   BRUNET J.P.+     O-B2 * in LMC
BRUC       Bruck NNN                1976B1   BRUCK M.T.       Cluster in SMC
Bruck            NNN                1976B1   BRUCK M.T.       Cluster in SMC
Bruggemann       NNN                1935B1   BRUGGEMANN H.    * in Cluster
Brun             FFF-NNNN           1957B1   BRUN A.          *

Figure 5.2: Result of Query ref 1989AC on the On–line Dictionary

===========================================================================
1989AC = 1989ApJS...70....1A
     by ABELL G.O., CORWIN H.G.Jr, OLOWIN R.P.
        Ap.J.Suppl. 70, 1-138 (1989)
        >> A catalog of rich clusters of galaxies
     -- All-sky ACO catalog: revision of Abell's northern catalog (ref.
                             1958A1) and new southern catalogs.
        Table 3 :(Nos 1-2712)     revised northern clusters
      = Acronym <ACO>
        Table 4 :(Nos 2713-4076)  southern clusters
      = Acronym <ACO>
        Table 5 :(Nos 1-1174)     supplementary southern clusters
      = Acronym <ACOS>
        1950 and 2000 coordinates
===========================================================================

Figure 5.3: Result of Query -l cati aco on the On–line Dictionary

ACO    = A = ABCG = Abel = Abell = ABGC = AC (Authors initials)
Write: <<ACO NNNN>>    N=4076
Simbad <<ACO ...>>
Class: [Cluster of G]
Rem. Revision of ref. 1958A1 (ABCG) and extension to the southern hemisphere
Ref: 1989AC = 1989ApJS...70....1A
by ABELL G.O., CORWIN H.G.Jr, OLOWIN R.P.
Ap.J.Suppl. 70, 1-138 (1989)
>> A catalog of rich clusters of galaxies
-- All-sky ACO catalog: revision of Abell's northern catalog (ref.
                     1958A1) and new southern catalogs.
Table 3 :(Nos 1-2712)     revised northern clusters .............. ACO
Table 4 :(Nos 2713-4076)  southern clusters ...................... ACO
Table 5 :(Nos 1-1174)     supplementary southern clusters ....... ACOS
1950 and 2000 coordinates
=====================================================================
ACOS   = ABCG S = ACO S = (S) (Authors initials, Suppl. southern)
Write: <<ACOS NNNN>>   N=1174
Simbad <<ACO S ...>>
Class: [Cluster of G]
Ref: 1989AC = 1989ApJS...70....1A
by ABELL G.O., CORWIN H.G.Jr, OLOWIN R.P.
Ap.J.Suppl. 70, 1-138 (1989)
>> A catalog of rich clusters of galaxies
-- All-sky ACO catalog: revision of Abell's northern catalog (ref.
                     1958A1) and new southern catalogs.
Table 3 :(Nos 1-2712)     revised northern clusters .............. ACO
Table 4 :(Nos 2713-4076)  southern clusters ...................... ACO
Table 5 :(Nos 1-1174)     supplementary southern clusters ....... ACOS
1950 and 2000 coordinates
=====================================================================
ACO S  (Authors initials, Suppl. southern)
Write: <<ACOS NNNN>>
Simbad <<ACO S ...>>
Class: [Cluster of G]
Ref: 1989AC = 1989ApJS...70....1A
by ABELL G.O., CORWIN H.G.Jr, OLOWIN R.P.
Ap.J.Suppl. 70, 1-138 (1989)
>> A catalog of rich clusters of galaxies
=====================================================================

Auxiliary tables and Annexes

This chapter collects a few auxiliary tables accompanying Chapters 1 to 5, and a few Annexes.

Table 6.1 details the abbreviations used in Col. 5 of Chap. 1.

Tables 6.2 to 6.4 describe the formats used in Col. 3 of Chap. 1 and elsewhere: inventory of the symbols used (Table 6.2); typical formats (Table 6.3); misleading formats (Table 6.4).

Throughout this Second Dictionary, the + symbol in a format means ± — both + or - may be found — while - means a minus sign or a dash. Notice that in some old catalogues, the letters N (northern) and S (southern) were used for the declination instead of the signs + or −.

A dot in a format generally stands for a decimal point, but there are exceptions, e.g. OCl or GJ. Notice also the correct usage of decimal or sexagesimal divisions: in a three-digit format +DDd the last figure d should always represent a decimal fraction of a degree and never tens of arc minutes; in a four-digit format +DDMM the last two figures should always represent arc minutes, never hundredths of a degree.

Table 6.5 lists the abbreviations used in Col. 9 of Chap. 1 to designate the journal name in the “coded reference” as used both by SIMBAD and NED ; the second column gives the abbreviation used in Chap. 3 (References) when it differs from its title given in the third column.

The 19-figure SIMBAD code (e.g. Col. 9 of Chap. 1 or Col. 3 of Table 6.7) has the following structure:

YYYYJJJJJVVVVMPPPPA where:

YYYY year of the publication
JJJJJ standard abbreviation for the journal (Table 6.5)
VVVV volume number
M specific qualifier as:
L Letter page
P Pink page
1 ⋯ 9, A ⋯ K fascicule number
PPPP page number
A first author’s first initial

Table 6.6 lists the shortest acronyms which are ambiguous but of very common usage.

6–1

Table 6.7 illustrates with a few examples the confusion generated by inappropriate designations or quotations of astronomical objects.

Table 6.8 provides references for constellation-based names.

Table 6.9 describes the three-letter abbreviations recommended by IAU for Constellation Names, and Table 6.10 is devoted to Greek letters. The running numbers in the first column of these tables is sometimes used in the electronic versions of the catalogues, e.g. the General Catalogue of Variable Stars ref. 1985KS.

Chapter 6: Auxiliary Tables and Annexes 6–3

Table 6.1: Wavelengths, Abbreviations, Types of Objects (col. 5 in Chap. 1)

(Rad) (Submm) (Far IR) (IR) (Opt) (UV) (Extreme UV) (Soft X) (X) (Hard X) (Gamma)

∗  Star
∗ ring  Stellar ring
A ∗  Stellar spectral type
AGN  Active galaxy nucleus
Ass.  Stellar association
Ass. ∗  Star in association
Ba ∗  Barium star
Backgrd  Background
Betw.  Between
BL  BL Lac type object
Bright ∗  Bright star
Bright N  Bright Nebula
BSG  Blue supergiant
BSO  Bright stellar object
CG  Cometary globule
Cl  Cluster
Cl ∗  Star in a Cluster
Cld  Cloud
Cluster  Stellar cluster
Cluster of G  Cluster of galaxies
CO  CO molecule
Cometary N  Cometary nebula
Compact G  Compact galaxy
Dark N  Dark nebula
DCld  Dark cloud
Double ∗  Double star
Dw.  Dwarf
EB  Eclipsing binary
Em. ∗  Emission-line star
Em. G  Emission-line galaxy
Em. Obj.  Emission-line object
Exc.  Excess
Exgl. N  Extragalactic nebula
Exgl. V ∗  Extragalactic variable star
exp.  Experiment
f.  Field
Faint G  Faint galaxy
Flaring (X) PSR Flaring X-Ray Pulsar
Foregd  Foreground
G  A galaxy
G in Cluster of G Galaxy in a cluster of galaxies
G in Group of G Galaxy in a group of galaxies
G in pair  Galaxy in a pair of galaxies
Gal. OH  Galactic OH source
Gal. SNR  Galactic Supernova Remnant
GCl  Globular cluster
GF  Globular filament
H II  H II region
H-alpha Em. ∗  H-α Emission-line star
HH  Herbig-Haro object
HH-like  Herbig-Haro like
High V ∗  High-velocity star

HVC  High-velocity cloud
IG  Interacting galaxies
IR Cld  Infrared Cloud
IVC  Intermediate-velocity cloud
K,M ∗  Stellar spectral types
Late ∗  Late spectral type star
LBV  Luminous Blue Variable
LMC  Large Magellanic Cloud
LPV  Long Period Variable
LVC  Low-velocity Cloud
Magn. WD  Magnetic white dwarf
MC  Magellanic Clouds
MCld  Molecular cloud
Misc.  Miscellaneous
MVC  Medium-velocity cloud
N  Nebula
N ∗  Stellar spectral type
Neb. Obj.  Nebulous object
NGP  North galactic pole
Northern ∗  Northern hemisphere star
O ∗  Stellar spectral type
O-B2 ∗  Stellar spectral types
OB ∗  Stellar spectral type
OB Ass.  OB stellar Association
Obj.  Object
OCl  Open Cluster
OH  OH molecule
Pec.  Peculiar
Phe Seq. ∗  Photoelectric sequence star
Phe Std. ∗  Photoelectric standard star
Phot. Std. ∗  Photometric standard star
PM ∗  Proper motion star
PN  Planetary nebula
PNN  Planetary nebula nucleus
Position ∗  Position star
Poss. Cluster  Possible Cluster
PSR  Pulsar
QSO  Quasi-stellar object
R ∗  Stellar spectral type
Rad. cont.  Radio continuum
Red Stel. Obj. Red stellar object
Red Superg.  Red supergiant also RSG
Red V ∗  Red variable star
Refl. N  Reflection nebula also RFN
RFN  Reflection nebula
RSF  Region of star formation
RSG  Red supergiant
S ∗  Stellar spectral type
Seyf. G  Seyfert galaxy
SGP  South galactic pole
SMC  Small Magellanic Cloud
SN  Supernova
SNR  Supernova remnant
Southern ∗  Southern hemisphere star
Std. ∗  Photometric standard star
SuperCl. of G Supercluster of galaxies
Superg.  Supergiant (for a star, a shell...)
Susp.  Suspected
Symb. ∗  Symbiotic star
UV or UV Exc. UV excess
V ∗  Variable star
WD  White dwarf
WR  Wolf-Rayet star

Table 6.2: Inventory of the formats

+ Stands for a sign (plus or minus) − May be a minus sign, dash or hyphen NNN Ordinal numbers within source catalogue (no positional information) NN.N May be, either subdivision of the object numbered NN, or an object inserted

between 2 adjacent ones.

Ex.: OCℓ 157.1 is inserted between OCℓ 157 and OCℓ 158 (ref. 1970AR B, ordering by ℓ, b)

±DD.dd Degrees of declination and decimals HH.hh Hours of right ascension and decimals MM.m Minutes of right ascension or of declination, and decimals SS.s Seconds of arc or time and decimals (right ascension or declination) D or \underline{D} There D stands for tens of degrees of declination HHMM±DDd Parkes format, coordinates for 1950 equinox and truncated B Introduces equatorial coordinates for 1950 (optional) J Introduces equatorial coordinates for 2000 (MANDATORY) LLL.ℓℓ Degrees of galactic longitude (and decimals) ±BB.bb Degrees of galactic latitude (and decimals) LLLℓ Degrees of galactic longitude (and one decimal) ±BBb Degrees of galactic latitude (and one decimal)

The galactic coordinates are (ℓ^{II}, b^{II}) as defined in 1960

G Introduces galactic coordinates (optional) CCC Constellation 3 letter abbreviation F For field or plate number R Roman numeral T Type of objects V Velocity or Volume DD May be a numeral for the day in a month MM May be a numeral for the month MMM May be letters for the month (3 letters abbreviation) YY or YYYY Year (2 or 4 digits) A,B,...,a,b, AB... Subdivisions or suffixes; or insertion in right ascension

Ex.: HD 48915 B = Sirius B, R 136:a3 (components)

Ex.: Brey 65b is a WR star in the same cluster (HD 269828) as Brey 65, while Brey 65a is 98’ to the North in declination

W Orientation (East, West, South, North)

Table 6.3: Typical formats (usual or recommended)

Format  Example  Reference 1st Author Remarks

Running number

NNN... HD 1918C1

Declination zone

±DD NNN  BD-28 2411  1886A1
Sk-69 72  1970S1  Sanduleak  Not Sk72-69

Equatorial coordinates

HHMM±DD  PKS  1969B1
HHMM±DDd  PKS  1979B1  Bolton
BHHMM±DD  PSR  1993TM Taylor+
BHHMM±DDd  PKS  1991W4 Wright
JHHMM±DDMM  PSR  1993TM Taylor+
PKS  1991W4 Wright
HHMMm±DDMM  IRAS  Point Source Cat.
HHMM.m±DDMM  1E  (IPC)
HHMMSS±DDMMSS  6C  1985B1 A Baldwin
HHMMSS.s±DDMMSS 1E  (HRI)
BHHMMSS.s±DDMMSS 6C  1985B1+ Hales

Galactic coordinates

LLL.ℓ±BB.b±VVV  HVC  1975H1  Hulsbosch
GLLL.ℓ±BB.b  PN  1992AO Acker+

Field

FFF-NNNN LP hyphens are recommended

ESO

Constellation

CCC YYYY  Nova

Year or Date

YYYYA  SN 1987A
YYYYaa  SN 1993aj
YYMMDDA  GB  1982K1  Klebesadel+ γ-ray burst
YYYY MMM DDA  GB 1979 Nov 05A 1987A1  Atteia+

Table 6.4: Misleading formats (obsolete or disasterous•)

•NN±DD Sk 72-69 instead of Sk-69 72 HHNDA Pawsey (1955P1), First use of the coordinates in the format ±DD.NN as in OB to OZ (1967S1) ±DNN.N any combination where the point does not mean a decimal point or the declination is

in tens of degrees

•HH.MM.m.NN GN by Neckel (1985NV), any combination where the point does not mean a decimal

point

•HHMM±DD.N where the point does not mean a decimal point (e.g. Glazar) •HHMM±DDM truncating to tens of arc minutes in declination is strongly discouraged, use ±DDd or

±DD.d instead.

•HHMM±DDdd Don’t use hundredths of degrees, but the sexagesimal division ±DDMM

6–6 Lortet M.-C., Borde S., Ochsenbein F.: The Second Reference Dictionary

Table 6.5: Abbreviations of the names of Journals

SIMBAD Abbreviation  Journal Title
A&A... Astr. Astrophys. Astron. Astrophys.
A&AS..  Astr. Astrophys. Suppl. Astron. Astrophys., Suppl. Ser.
A&ASS.  Astron. Astrophys., Special Suppl. Ser.
AAHam.  Astron. Abh. Hamburger Sternw.
AbaOB.  Byull. Abastumanskaya Astrofiz. Obs.
AcA... Acta Astr. Acta Astron.
AcApS.  Acta Astrophys. Sinica
ACiCh. Astr. Cirk. Astron. Cirkular
Afz...  Astrofizika
AISAO.  Astrofiz. Issledovanija
AJ....  A.J.  Astron. J.
AN....  A.N.  Astron. Nachr.
AnAp..  Ann. Astrophysique
AnDea.  Ann. Dearborn Obs.
AnHar.  Ann. Astron. Obs. Harvard College
AnORB.  Ann. Obs. R. Belgique
AnTok.  Ann. Tokyo Astron. Obs.
Ap....  Astrophysics
Ap&SS.  Astrophys. Space Sci.
ApJ...  Ap.J.  Astrophys. J.
ApJ...  Ap.J.Lett.  Astrophys. J. (L–pages)
ApJS..  Ap.J.Suppl.  Astrophys. J., Suppl. Ser.
ApL...  Astrophys. Lett.
ArA... Ark. Astr. Arkiv for Astron.
ARA&A.  Annual Rev. Astron. Astrophys.
ATsir.  Astron. Tsirk.
AuJPA.  Austral. J. Phys. Astrophys. Suppl.
AuJPh.  Austral. J. Phys.
AuJPS.  Austral. J. Phys. Suppl.
AZh...  Astr. Zh.  Astron. Zhurnal
BAAS..  B.A.A.S.  Bull. American Astron. Soc.
BAICz.  B.A.C.  Bull. Astron. Inst. Czech.
BAN...  B.A.N.  Bull. Astron. Inst. Netherlands
BANS..  B.A.N.Suppl.  Bull. Astron. Inst. Netherlands, Suppl. Ser.
BHarO.  Harvard Bull.  Bull. Harvard Obs.
BICDS.  Bull. Inf. CDS  Bull. Inf. Centre Données Strasbourg
BITon.  Bol. Inst. Tonantzintla y Tacubaya
BOTT..  Bol. Obs. Tonantz. Tacub.
CoAsi.  Contr. Oss. Astrofis. Padova in Asiago
CoBos.  Contr. Bosscha Obs.
CoKwa.  Contr. Astroph. Kwasan Obs. Univ. Kyoto
CoSte.  Contr. Univ. Arizona, Steward Obs.
CoTol.  Contr. Cerro-Tololo Obs.
IAUCo.  IAU Colloq.
IAUS..  IAU Symp.
IBVS..  I.B.V.S.  IAU Inform. Bull. Var. Stars
IrAJ..  Irish A.J.  Irish Astron. J.
IzKry.  Izv. Krym. Astrofiz. Obs.
IzPul.  Izv. Glav. Astron. Obs.
JApA..  J. Astrophys. Astron.
JO....  J. Observateurs
JRASC.  J. R. Astron. Soc. Can.
LicOB.  Lick Obs. Bull.
LowOB.  Lowell Obs. Bull.

Chapter 6: Auxiliary Tables and Annexes 6–7

Table 6.5: Abbreviations of the names of Journals(continued)

SIMBAD Abbreviation  Journal Title
MeLu2.  Medd. Lunds Ser. II Lund Medd. Astron. Obs. Ser. II
MmMtS.  Mem. Mount Stromlo Obs.
MmRAS. Mem.R.A.S. Mem. R. Astron. Soc.
MmSAI.  Mem. Soc. Astron. Ital.
MNRAS.  M.N.R.A.S.  Mon. Not. R. Astron. Soc.
MNSSA.  M.N.A.S.S.A.  Mon. Notes Astron. Soc. South Afr.
Msngr.  The Messenger

Natur.  Nature

Obs...  The Observatory
PASAu.  Proc. Astron. Soc. Australia
PASJ..  P.A.S.J.  Publ. Astron. Soc. Jap.
PASP..  P.A.S.P.  Publ. Astron. Soc. Pac.
PAZh..  Pis’ma Astron. Zh.
PCinO.  Publ. Cincinnati Obs.
PDAO..  Publ. Dominion Astrophys. Obs. Victoria
PDAUC.  Publ. Dep. Astron. Univ. Chile
PDDO..  Publ. David Dunlap Obs.
PLicO.  Publ. Lick Obs.
PNAOJ.  Publ. Nat. Astron. Obs. Japan
PNAS..  Proc. Nat. Acad. Sci.
POBeo.  Publ. Obs. Astron. Beograd
POMic.  Publ. Michigan Obs.
POMin.  Publ. Astron. Obs. Univ. Minnesota
POPad.  Publ. Oss. Astron. Padova
POPot.  Publ. Astrophys. Obs. Potsdam
POStr.  Publ. Obs. Strasbourg
POVRO.  Publ. Owens Valley Radio Obs.
PROE..  Publ. R. Obs. Edinburgh
PSCDS.  Publ. Spéciale C.D.S., Strasbourg
PUSNO.  Publ. U.S. Naval Obs. Second Serie
PW&SO.  Publ. Warner & Swasey Obs.
QJRAS.  Quart. J. R. Astron. Soc.
RA....  Ric. Astron. Specola Vaticana
RMxAA.  Rev. Mex. Astron. Astrofis.
SAAOC.  South African Astron. Obs. Circ.
SoByu.  Soob. Byurakan Obs.
SSRv..  Space Sci. Rev.
StoAn.  Stockholm Obs. Ann.
SvA...  Sov. Astron.
SvAL..  Sov. Astron. Lett.
TarOT.  Tartu Astrof. Obs. Teated
TOYal.  Trans. Astron. Obs. Yale Univ.
TrKaz.  Trudy Kazan Gorod. Astron. Obs.
TrPul.  Trudy Glav. Astron. Obs. Pulkovo, ser.2
TrSht.  Trudy Gos. Astron. Inst. Shternberga
UppAn.  Uppsala Astron. Obs. Ann.
VatOP.  Vatican Obs. Publ.
VeARI.  Veroeff. Astron. Rechen-Inst. Heidelberg
VeBoc.  Veroeff. Astron. Inst. Ruhr-Univ. Bochum
VeHei.  Veroeff. Sternw. Heidelberg (Koenigstuhl)
VilCo.  Villanova Univ. Obs. Contr.
ZA....  Z. Astrophys.  Zeitschr. Astrophys.

6–8 Lortet M.-C., Borde S., Ochsenbein F.: The Second Reference Dictionary

Table 6.6: Simplified Acronyms which are now common

Acronym  Object type  Ref  Author  Unshortened acronym Format
A  Cluster of G  1958A1  Abell  ACO or ABCG  NNNN
1989AC Abell+  ACO  NNNN
B  Dark Cloud  1927B1  Barnard  Barnard  NNN
L  Dark Nebulae  1962L1  Lynds  LDN  NNNN
R  ∗ in MC  1960F1  Feast+  RMC  NNN
S  Cluster of G  1989AC Abell+  ACOS  NNNN
S n (n ≠ 147) HII  1959S  Sharpless  Sh2-  NNN
S 147  “well-known SNR” 1950S1 D Shajn+  Simeis  NNN
SS 433  Em. obj  1977S2  Stephenson+  SS77-  NNN
not Sanduleak+ SS73-  NNN

Refrain from using I for IC, N for NGC, and U for UGC

Table 6.7: Examples of Misleading Designations

Acronym  Object type  Ref  Author  Remarks

A) Ambiguity of the acronym when created SMC1 one PN in LMC

1978S2 C  Sanduleak  is SMP1-104A . This acronym was

proposed later, from 3 discoverers’ initials

SMC1 one HII supergiant shell in SMC 1980M2 Meaburn

SGS-SMC

SMC  symbiotic stars in SMC  1992MNRAS.258.639M Morgan  N=3

A’) Bad format when created MG 1131+0456 (Rad)

1986B2  Bennett+  should be MG J1131+0456 (= Ein-

stein Ring), format JHHMM±DDMM (Equinox J2000)

B) Shortening of the numbering, or anomalies BD11901 Star skipping the sign and the blank saved two characters... but is it BD+11 901 or BD+1 1901? who knows?

3A 0557 (X) the full name is 3A 0557-383 elsewhere written 3A 05-383

MCG 6-30-15 G skipping the minus sign at the beginning of the format resulted in mixing the properties of a Seyfert 1 (MCG-6-30-15) and a Seyfert 2 (MCG+6-30-15) galaxies, see Ward 1987 The tale of two Seyferts

H 1847 G

1992MNRAS.256.125K Kotilainen+ stands for H J1847-7831

ESO 198 G 1992MNRAS.256.125K Kotilainen+ stands for ESO 198-24 = ESO 198-

G24

PKS 2155 G

1993MNRAS.263.655K Kotilainen+ stands for PKS 2155-304

Sk69-72 Star in LMC

1970S1  Sanduleak  written instead of Sk-72 69 (correct

format -DD NNN) here written with format NNN-DD for historical reasons (avoid confusion with CPD), thus Sk-72 69 has been quoted as Sk72-69 (this saves two digits!) which can at best be understood as Sk-69 72, another star!

1415-2632 Dw.G

1993A&A..277..53T  Tresse+  in Table 3, 6 objects with no coordi-

nate are quoted; the name 1415-2632 is not based on 1950 equatorial coordinates, but means object No.2632 in field 1415 !

C) Same designation for two distinct objects given by the same author in the same paper SBS 1210+537 1983M1 E Markarian+ is found both in Table 1 (galaxies)

and in Table 2 (blue stars); we advise to use different acronyms for these two different objects, SBSG and SBSS

LDSS 1990MNRAS.244.408C Colless+ The same numbering (e.g. 10.4.01)

corresponds to two different sources

1991MNRAS.253.686C Colless+ in Paper I and Paper II.

Table 6.8: Nomenclature based on constellation names and individual names (References)

The First Dictionary, 1983 and 1986, Parts V, V(Suppl.), VI and VI (Suppl.) The Becvar Atlas Alter and Ruprecht p.75 (1970AR A) Collins (1977CO) Dixon, Appendix A p. 829-833 (1980DI) (non stellar optical astron. objects) de Vaucouleurs, RC3 catalogue, Vol.1 Appendix 8 (1991DV) Hoffleit+, 4th ed. Appendix II p. 462-468 (1982HJ) Sinnott, NGC 2000.0, p.XX (1988S3) SIMBAD data base, identifiers beginning by Name or ASS e.g.. Name Butterfly, ASS Cyg OB 2 Additional references:

Allen R.H., 1963, “Star names, their lore and meaning”; a corrected republication of the work by G.E.

Stechert in 1899 Star Names and their Meanings, Dover Publ. Roman N.G., 1987, PASP 99, 695-699 Identification of a constellation from the 1875.0 position

Table 6.9: Three-letter abbreviations recommended for Constellation names

1 And Andromeda
2 Ant Antlia
3 Aps Apus
4 Aqr Aquarius
5 Aql Aquila
6 Ara Ara
7 Ari  Aries
8 Aur Auriga
9 Boo Bootes
10 Cae Caelum
11 Cam Camelopardalis
12 Cnc Cancer
13 CVn Canes Venatici
14 CMa Canis Major
15 CMi Canis Minor
16 Cap Capricornus
17 Car Carina
18 Cas Cassiopeia
19 Cen Centaurus
20 Cep Cepheus
21 Cet Cetus
22 Cha Chamaeleon
23 Cir  Circinus
24 Col Columba
25 Com Coma Berenices
26 CrA Corona Austrina
27 CrB Corona Borealis
28 Crv Corvus (∗)
29 Crt Crater
30 Cru Crux

31 Cyg Cygnus
32 Del Delphinus
33 Dor Dorado
34 Dra Draco
35 Equ Equuleus
36 Eri  Eridanus
37 For Fornax
38 Gem Gemini
39 Gru Grus
40 Her Hercules
41 Hor Horologium
42 Hya Hydra
43 Hyi Hydrus (∗)
44 Ind Indus
45 Lac Lacerta
46 Leo Leo
47 LMi Leo Minor
48 Lep Lepus
49 Lib Libra
50 Lup Lupus
51 Lyn Lynx
52 Lyr Lyra
53 Men Mensa
54 Mic Microscopium
55 Mon Monoceros
56 Mus Musca
57 Nor Norma
58 Oct Octans
59 Oph Ophiucus
60 Ori Orion

61 Pav Pavo
62 Peg  Pegasus
63 Per  Perseus
64 Phe Phoenix
65 Pic  Pictor
66 Psc  Pisces
67 PsA Piscis Austrinis
68 Pup Puppis
69 Pyx Pyxis
70 Ret  Reticulum
71 Sge  Sagitta
72 Sgr  Sagittarius
73 Sco  Scorpius
74 Scl  Sculptor (∗)
75 Sct  Scutum (∗)
76 Ser  Serpens
77 Sex  Sextans
78 Tau Taurus
79 Tel  Telescopium
80 Tri  Triangulum
81 TrA Triangulum Australe
82 Tuc Tucana
83 UMa Ursa Major
84 UMi Ursa Minor
85 Vel  Vela
86 Vir  Virgo
87 Vol  Volans
88 Vul  Vulpecula
89 LMC Large Magellanic Cloud
90 SMC Small Magellanic Cloud

(∗) Hys is used instead of Hyi in Becvar, 1964; Cor is used instead of Crv in Hoffleit, 1982, ref. 1982HF Special care should be taken about Sculptor and Scutum (resp. Scl and Sct), never Scu

Table 6.10: Greek letters

Name Abbr.
1 α alpha alp
2 β beta  bet
3 γ gamma gam
4 δ delta  del
5 ε epsilon eps
6 ζ zeta  zet
7 η eta  eta
8 θ theta  the
9 ι iota  iot
10 κ kappa kap
11 λ lambda lam
12 μ mu  mu

Name  Abbr.
13 ν nu  nu
14 ξ xi  xi
15 o omicron omi
16 π pi  pi
17 ρ rho  rho
18 σ sigma  sig
19 τ tau  tau
20 υ upsilon ups
21 ϕ phi  phi
22 χ chi  chi
23 ψ psi  psi
24 ω omega ome