BOSS_GC (S0): Boss General Catalog of Stars (19930404)
FILE: boss_gc.s0 (33342 stars)
CONTENTS: Boss General Catalog of Stars
DATASET: This file comes in HyperSky dataset S-10, version 19930404. Availability on HyperSky CD-ROM: Vol. 1 (1993)
DESCRIPTION: This datafile contains the GENERAL CATALOGUE OF 33342 STARS FOR THE EPOCH 1950 by B. Boss, originally published by the Carnegie Institution of Washington in 1937 (Pub. 468). The HyperSky file is based on the revised machine-readable version of the catalog, as provided on the NASA/GSFC Astronomical Data Center (ADC) cd-rom "Selected Astronomical Catalogs", Volume 1. The commonly used abbreviation for this catalog is "GC".
The revised NASA version of the catalog, dated 1985, contains completely new cross-identifications to the HD (Henry Draper) and DM (Durchmusterung) catalogs, based on a cross-index prepared by the Astronomical Data Center.
The GC is essentially an all-sky catalog for stars brighter than 8th magnitude. By comparison the SAO contains some 27000 stars brighter than magnitude 7.5, and 36000 stars brighter than 8th magnitude. For stars in this magnitude range, the HyperSky datafile provides a cross-reference between GC number, HD number, DM number, and SAO number (when used in conjunction with HyperSky SAO catalog files).
DATA: The HyperSky datafile contains the following data from the GC catalog:
POSITION: Right Ascension and Declination are based on the 1950 catalog values, precessed to equinox 2000.
MAG: the cataloged magnitude. Magnitudes are given to 2 decimal places in the GC, but stored to only one decimal place in the HyperSky datafile. GC magnitudes were not provided for variable stars, even bright ones. In HyperSky, such GC stars will appear only if you set the stellar magnitude display limit at or below the GC catalog magnitude limit of 10.1. (10.1 does NOT mean the GC is complete to 10th magnitude, only that the GC does include a few stars as faint as 10th).
IDENTIFICATION: The GC number of the star.
COMMENTS: The comment lines contain the following information, provided if available for each radio source identification:
* Durchmusterung catalog identification:
Prefixes indicate the specific Durchmusterung as follows:
BD = Bonner Durchmusterung
CD = Cordoba Durchmusterung
CP = Cape Photographic Durchmusterung
* Henry Draper catalog (HD) number