Bright Star Catalogue Fields

The MICA Version 2.0 Bright Star Catalogue contains the same fields as the Bright Stars catalogue in The Astronomical Almanac. In the description below, 'b' stands for a blank character and 'N' stands for a single (0-9) digit and 'C' stands for a single character.

The following fields are contained within each entry in the MICA/AsA Bright Star catalog:

Yale Bright Star Catalog ID
BS format is 'HRbNNNN', where 'NNNN' is a 1-4 digit number (1-5647). This ID was obtained from the Bright Star List in Section H of The Astronomical Almanac. This is a searchable field. Examples: 'HR 1708'. Reference: Fifth revised edition of the Yale Bright Star Catalogue (Hoffleit, et al. ,1982)).
Flamsteed Catalogue Designation
Flamsteed format is 'NNNbCCC', where NNN is a 1-3 digit number ordered by increasing RA within the constellation abbreviation 'CCC'. This ID was obtained from the Bright Star List in Section H of The Astronomical Almanac. This is a searchable field. Examples: '2 Per', '78 UMa'.
Bayer Catalogue Designation
Bayer format is 'aaabCCC', where 'aaa' stands for the greek letter abbreviation, (ordered by decreasing brightness), and 'CCC' is the constellation abbreviation. May have component designations included. This ID was obtained from the Bright Star List in Section H of The Astronomical Almanac. This is a searchable field. Examples: 'alf Ori', 'bet01 Tuc', 'kap02 Scl', 'nu. And'.
Common or Historical Name
This ID was obtained from the SIMBAD database. This is a searchable field. Examples: 'Capella' or 'Polaris'
V (F7.2)
V magnitude. The V magnitudes and color indices are homogenized magnitudes taken from the Yale Bright Star Catalogue. This is a searchable field. For variable stars the magnitude listed is the brightest magnitude.
B-V (F5.2)
Color index. The V magnitudes and color indices are homogenized magnitudes taken from the Yale Bright Star Catalogue.
U-B (F5.2)
Color index. The V magnitudes and color indices are homogenized magnitudes taken from the Yale Bright Star Catalogue.
Spectral Type
The spectral types were provided by W.P. Bidelman and updated by R.F. Garrison.
Notes
Hipparcos positions used for all stars. Tycho proper motions used for all stars except where noted.