V/135A Uranometria Argentina catalog of bright southern stars (Gould, 1879)
Resultados del Observatorio Nacional Argentino en Cordoba, Vol.1: Uranometria
Argentina.
Brightness and position of every fixed star, down to the seventh magnitude
within one hundred degrees of the South Pole.
Gould B.G.
<Resultados del Observatorio Nacional Argentino en Cordoba ; v. 1,
Buenos Aires : Impr. de P.E. Coni, 1879., xv, 385 p. ; 32 cm.>
=1879RNAO....1.....G 1879RNAO....1.....G
ADC_Keywords: Historical catalog ; Cross identifications ; Constellations
Description:
In 1879 Benjamin Apthorp Gould published in Buenos Aires, Argentina,
the Uranometria Argentina catalog of 7756 stars south of declination
+10 degrees. This included all those stars he considered magnitude 7
or brighter and some fainter stars which are close companions to
brighter stars or to each other and have combined magnitude 7 or
brighter. Star positions are in 1875 coordinates, and constellation
boundaries also in 1875 coordinates were defined within the
aforementioned declination range. With only a few small changes these
were incorporated into the boundaries adopted by the IAU in 1930 and
subsequently universally accepted. In terms of accurate photoelectric
magnitude measurements the Uranometria Argentina is nearly complete to
magnitude 6.5 in its declination range.
In each constellation the individual stars considered to be magnitude
7 and brighter were numbered in sequence of increasing right ascension
in 1875 coordinates, except that in a few cases this sequence was
somewhat adjusted so that stars close together could be listed on
adjacent lines of text. The numbering system is analogous to that in
the Flamsteed Catalogus Brittanicus and now widely used. Star numbers
from the Uranometria Argentina rarely appear in the 21st century
despite the potential utility of their use. They were included in the
American Ephemeris and Nautical Almanac until 1978, and in the FK5
catalog until 1999, always with the letter G following the number in
the Uranometria Argentina catalog. This serves to distinguish
Flamsteed numbers with no following letters from Gould numbers, and is
utilized in this presentation and recommended for general use.
The file catalog.dat includes every star in the original Uranometria
Argentina. In the original the constellations were presented in
sequence of increasing distance from the south pole and numbered
accordingly. For the convenience of 21st century astronomers the
constellations are presented here by alphabetical sequence in
constellation name and the stars in each constellation in the same
sequence as in the original. A separate file notes.txt includes a
large number of notes for individual stars and for groups of stars
recognized in the original catalog as belonging together. Each note is
referenced by an asterisk * in the file catalog.dat. Columns 43-63
provide J2000 coordinates and cross identifications from the
Flamsteed, HD, and SAO catalogs for the stars and have been added by
the author of this data set. Columns 82-154 have been copied verbatim
from the Uranometria Argentina catalogue, except that where asterisks
are shown errors in the original printed catalogue have been corrected
and the originally published values are stated in the notes.
Two publications state corrections to the printed Uranometria
Argentina. These are by B.A. Gould, Astronomische Nachrichten 116,
379-382 (1887AN....116..379G 1887AN....116..379G), and by T. W. Backhouse, Astronomical
Journal 12, 112 (1892AJ.....12Q.112B 1892AJ.....12Q.112B). All of these, and a few others,
mostly typographical misprints found by the present author, are
presented in this digital version.
File Summary:
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FileName Lrecl Records Explanations
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ReadMe 80 . This file
catalog.dat 168 8471 The Catalogue (with fixes of July 2013)
notes.dat 123 2567 Individual notes (with fixes of July 2013)
comments.txt 165 374 Additional comments
catalog.ori 145 8473 Original catalog file sent by F. Pilcher
notes.ori 165 3375 Original notes file sent by F. Pilcher
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Byte-by-byte Description of file: catalog.dat
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Bytes Format Units Label Explanations
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
1 A1 --- f_G [G] Letter G indicating this number refers to
the star designation in the Gould catalog
Uranometria Argentina
3- 5 I3 --- G [1/393]? Number in printed Uranometria Argentina
(blank if not in Gould Uranometria)
7- 9 A3 --- cst Three letter abbreviation of the constellation
name under which the star appears in the
Uranometria Argentina
10 A1 --- n_G [*?] Unnumbered or unidentified star (1)
11- 13 I3 --- F ? Star number in John Flamsteed's
"Historia Coelestis Brittanica"
14 A1 --- f_F [*] An asterisk indicates this star has a letter
which appears in some catalogues but not in
the Uranometria Argentina, or therein under
a different letter.
15- 22 A8 --- let Greek or Roman letter, in some cases with a
following number, commonly associated with the
star
23 A1 --- n_let [*] Indicates a note in notes.dat file
24- 28 F5.2 mag Vmag ? Magnitude of the star in the V system
29- 31 A3 --- Var [:v?Vd ] Denotes variability or possible
variability
32- 40 A9 --- Spec MK spectral class (2)
41 A1 --- n_Spec [*] Indicates a note in notes.dat file
43- 44 I2 h RAh ? Right Ascension J2000 (hours)
46- 47 I2 min RAm ? Right Ascension J2000 (minutes)
49- 52 F4.1 s RAs ? Right Ascension J2000 (seconds)
55 A1 --- DE- Declination J2000 (sign)
56- 57 I2 deg DEd ? Declnation J2000 (degrees)
59- 60 I2 arcmin DEm ? Declination J2000 (minutes)
62- 63 I2 arcsec DEs ? Declination J2000 (seconds)
66- 71 I6 --- HD ? Star number in the Henry Draper (HD) catalogue
72 A1 --- m_HD [ABC] Occasionally an HD star number is
followed by a letter stated here.
74- 79 I6 --- SAO ? Star number in the Smithsonian Astrophysical
Observatory (I/131) catalogue
80 A1 --- m_SAO Occasionally a SAO star number is followed by
a letter stated here.
81 A1 --- n_Ref [*] Concerns the second star (3)
82- 98 A17 --- Ref Star numbers from pre-1875 catalogues
referenced in the Uranometria Argentina (4)
99 A1 --- n_RA1875h [*] Indicates a note in notes.dat file when
no position
100-101 I2 h RA1875h ? Right Ascension epoch 1875 (hours) as printed
in the Uranometria Argentina.
103-104 I2 min RA1875m ? Right Ascension epoch 1875 (minutes) as
printed in the Uranometria Argentina.
106-107 I2 s RA1875s ? Right Ascension epoch 1875 (seconds) as
printed in the Uranometria Argentina.
108 A1 --- n_RA1875s [*] Indicates a note in notes.dat file
110 A1 --- DE1875- Declination epoch 1875 (sign)
111-112 I2 deg DE1875d ? Declination epoch 1875 (degrees) as printed
in the Uranometria Argentina.
114-117 F4.1 arcmin DE1875m ? Declination epoch 1875 (minutes) as printed
in the Uranometria Argentina.
118 A1 --- n_DE1875m [*] Indicates a note in notes.dat file
119 A1 --- b [#] Pound signs (#) on two or more successive
lines indicate that in the Uranometria
Argentina these stars are connected with curly
braces as appearing like a single star through
a low power glass
120-124 A5 --- Amag Magnitude as printed in the Uranometria Argentina
131 A1 --- n_Amag [*] Indicates a note in notes.dat file
132-155 A24 --- Comm Notes as printed in the Uranometria Argentina (5)
157 A1 --- n_Name [Gfpb] Actual star concerned by the note (G1)
158-168 A11 --- Name Name used to identify objects (G1)
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Note (1): An asterisk * indicates this star appears without a number in the
Uranometria Argentina, or is not identified with modern data omitted,
or that this star now lies in a different constellation from that
assigned in the Uranometria Argentina.
Note (2): If the spectral class contains more than 8 characters, an abbreviated
form is shown the main table with an asterisk referring to a note.
Note (3): An asterisk is used for the second star of a star pair for which
only a single data set is printed in the Uranometria Argentina.
Note (4): The catalogues to which the letters refer (the acronyms) are:
F = John Flamsteed. Historia Coelestis Britannica. (Ed. Halley.)
Londini: 1818.
By = Fundamenta Astronomiae, pro anno 1755 deducta, ex observationibus
viri incomparabilis James Bradley. Auctore F. W Bessel.
Regiomonti: 1818.
L = A Catalogue of 9766 stars in the Southern Hemisphere, from the
observations of Nicolas Louis Lacaille, made at the Cape of Good
Hope in the years 1751 and 1752. Reduced at the expense of the
British Association for the Advancement of Science, under the
superintendence of Mr. Thomas Henderson; and printed under the
direction of Mr. Francis Baily. London: 1847.
Ll = A Catalogue of those stars in the Histoire Celeste Francaise of
Jerome de LaLande, for which tables of reduction to the epoch
1800.0 have been published by Professor Schumacher. Reduced at
the expense of the British Association for the Advancement of
Science, under the immediate superintendence of Mr. Francis
Baily. London: 1847.
B = A Catalogue of 7385 stars, chiefly in the Southern Hemisphere,
prepared from observations made in the years 1822-6 at the
Observatory at Paramatta founded by Sir Thomas Makdougall
Brisbane. The computations made and the catalogue constructed by
Mr. William Richardson. London: 1835.
J = A Catalogue of 606 principal fixed stars in the Southern
Hemisphere, deduced from observations made at the Observatory,
St. Helena, by Manuel J. Johnson. London: 1835.
T = A General Catalogue of the principal fixed stars, from
observations made at the Hon. East India Company's Observatory
at Madras, in the years 1830-43 by Thomas Glanville Taylor,
Astronomer to the Hon. Company. Madras: 1844.
G = A Catalogue of 1963 stars, reduced to the beginning of the year
1850, from observations made at Santiago de Chile, during the
years 1850-52, by the U. S. N. Astronomical Expedition to the
Southern Hemisphere, Lt. James M. Gilliss, superintendent.
Washington: 1870. (Appendix to Washington Observations of 1868.)
WB = Positiones Mediae Stellarum Fixarum, in Zonis Regiomontanis a
Besselio inter -15° et +15° declinationis observatarum,
ad annum 1825 reductae, et in catalogum ordinatae. Auctore,
Maximiliano Weisse. Jussu Academiae Imperalis Petropolitanae
edi curavit et praefatus est F. G. W. Struve. Petropoli: 1846.
OA = Argelander's Zonenbeobachtungen von 15. bis 31. Grade Sudlicher
Declination in mittleren Positionen fur 1850.0, von Wilhelm
Oeltzen. Sitzungsberichte der Wiener Akademie: 1857-58.
Y = Catalogue of stars, observed at the U. S. Naval Observatory
during the years 1845-71, and prepared for publication, by
Professor M. Yarnall. Washington: 1873.
Note (5): In the original printed Uranometria Argentina some abbreviations
are shown in the far right column, and these are duplicated here.
Their meanings are:
var = variable
dpl = double
tpl = triple
r = red star
rr = very red star
c = colored star
cum = cumulative, or combined magnitude of several stars,
a cluster or nebula
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Byte-by-byte Description of file: notes.dat
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Bytes Format Units Label Explanations
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1 A1 --- n_Name [Gbfp] Actual star concerned by the note (G1)
2- 12 A11 --- Name Name of the star (G1)
14-123 A110 --- Note Text of the note
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Global notes:
Note (G1): the star name consists in the star number in the constellation
(column "G") followed by the letter 'G' (for Gould, to avoid any
confusion with Flamsteed numbers) and the constellation name (note
that the 2 parts of the Ser constellation are distinguished here,
see the "History" section below). The symbol in the column "n_Name"
specifies which star is concerned by the note:
G = concerns the designated source
p = concerns the source in the line preceding the source indicated
f = concerns the source in the line following the source indicated
b = concerns the source between the source indicated and an other
source specified in the note
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Acknowledgements:
Frederick Pilcher, pilcher(at)ic.edu
History:
* 20-Jul-2010: Original version
* 15-Aug-2011: Column "Name" contains the recommended "Gould" name
(number followed by a 'G').
* 12-May-2012: in column "Name", the 2 parts of the Serpens constellation
are distinguished as SerCap (Serpens Caput) and SerCau (Serpens Cauda)
(this version is available in the "version.0" subdirectory)
* 30-Sep-2013: Version 'A', which includes the following changes:
-- Inclusion of errata published with the original Uranometria Argentina
catalog, not included in initial electronic version;
-- The swapping of a small number of stars where Gould has assigned a
Gould number to the dimmer star of a pair;
-- The use of "G" in the notes whenever referring to a Gould number,
and some shuffling of text where the additional characters made the
line too long;
-- Various typos fixed
(End) Frederick Pilcher, Patricia Vannier [CDS] 20-Jul-2010