BSC5 (S0): Bright Star Catalog, Fifth Edition, 1991 (19950214)
FILE: bsc5.s0 (9096 stars)
CONTENTS: Yale Bright Star Catalog, Fifth Edition; Hoffleit and Warren, 1991
DATASET: This file comes in HyperSky dataset S-26, version 19950214. Availability on HyperSky CD-ROM: Vol. 2 (1995)
DESCRIPTION: This datafile contains the Yale BRIGHT STAR CATALOG, FIFTH (1991) EDITION (herein referred to as the BSC5), by D. Hoffleit and W. Warren. The BSC5 is an updated version of Hoffleit's FOURTH (1982) edition; available in HyperSky set S-13. The HyperSky BSC5 files are based on the machine-readable version of the BSC5, as provided on the NASA/GSFC Astronomical Data Center (ADC) cd-rom "Selected Astronomical Catalogs", Volume 1.
BSC5 is an all-sky catalog, first published in 1908, that contains information on stars from magnitude -1.5 down to 8th, although coverage is not complete in this range (the SAO contains about 15,000 stars down to magnitude 7). The size of the BSC has not changed since the original 1908 edition, and stands at 9110 entries. Of these, however, 14 objects are novae, clusters, or other objects for which the BSC does not provide positional data but retains to preserve the numbering. These 14 objects are omitted from the HyperSky file, leaving 9096 true stellar entries. A brief list of the omitted BSC entries is given below.
For each star, the HyperSky BSC5 datafile and notefile display much of the information available in the main BSC5 catalog, as well as all information from the associated BSC5 remarks file. The organization of the displayed data is modified slightly from the HyperSky BSC4 datafile to take advantage of the additional notefile, which was not included by the HyperSky BSC4 catalog.
DATA: The HyperSky datafile and contains the following data from the BSC5 main catalog:
POSITION: Right Ascension and Declination are the BSC5 2000 catalog values. The BSC5 values were recorded to an accuracy of 1 arcsec for Declination and 0.1 time second for RA. This accuracy is preserved in the HyperSky file.
MAG: the cataloged visual magnitude. BSC5 visual magnitudes are given to 2 decimal places, but stored to only one decimal place in the HyperSky datafile.
TY: the spectral type abbreviated to two letters, extracted from the full BSC5 spectral type, as provided in the comments (see below).
IDENTIFICATION: The BS ("Bright Star") number. This number is also known as the HR ("Harvard Revised") number.
COMMENTS: The comment lines contain the following information, provided if available for each radio source identification:
* The full BSC5 spectral type, up to 20 characters in length.
* Radial velocity "rad=" If present, this comment line will begin with "rad=", followed by the heliocentric radial velocity in km/sec. Positive values indicate recession; negative values indicate approach. Following the radial velocity on the same line may optionally be a related comment, such as Variable, SB (spectroscopic binary), etc.
* Proper motion values
pmr: RA proper motion for epoch and equinox J2000.0, based on the FK5 system, and given in arc seconds per year.
pmd: Declination proper motion for epoch and equinox J2000.0, based on the FK5 system, given in arc seconds per year.
* Variability: A star noted in BSC5 as variable (or possibly variable) will be flagged by the comment "var". This will be followed by the star's constellation designation (eg, R AND) from the General Catalog of Variable Stars (Kukarkin et al. 1969-1970), if one exists.
NOTEFILE: The notefile contains the following information, provided if available for each star:
* Alternate identifications A line containing the star identification of the star in the following catalogs:
Bayer/Flamsteed (combined, as in "21Alp And" for 21=Alpha And)
Durchmusterungs (BD=Bonner, CD=Cordoba, CP=Cape Photographic)
Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory Catalog (SAO)
Henry Draper Catalog (HD)
Fifth Fundamental Catalog (FK5)
Aitken Double Star Catalog (ADS)
* Color information: In all cases, values followed by a colon are uncertain; values followed by a question mark are questionable.
U-B color in the UBV system
B-V color in the UBV system
R-I in Johnson system if available. Alternative systems are indicated by appended code letters: C=Cousins, E=Eggen.
* Parallax
The star's parallax in arc seconds. This is the trigonometric parallax unless the value is followed by the comment "(dyn)", which indicates the parallax is dynamical.
* Rotational velocity "rot="
If present, this comment line will begin with "rot=", followed by the projected rotational velocity (v sin i) in km/sec. "rot=" may occasionally be replaced by "rot<=" or "rot<". A colon immediately following the velocity number indicates an uncertain value of v sin i.
* Remarks:
If the line "Remarks:" appears, all lines after it are remarks about the star taken from the remarks file which accompanies the main BSC5 catalog. These remarks are often truncated and use abbreviations which will not be explained here. Remarks are split into sections preceded by code letters, which have been kept in the HyperSky notes. These code letters indicate the general nature of the section's remarks, as follows:
N - Star names; C - Colors;
S - Spectra; VAR - Variability; SB - Spectroscopic binaries;
RV - Radial and/or rotational velocities; D - Double and multiple
stars; DYN - Dynamical parallaxes; R - Stellar radii or diameters;
P - Polarization; G - Group membership; M - Miscellaneous.
The section code letters are always followed by a colon (:).
ENTRIES OMITTED: The following 14 BSC5 entries did not include positions and are omitted from the HyperSky version of the BSC5:
BS Number Object
--------- ------
92 Tycho's Nova Cas, 1572 (B Cas)
95 globular cluster 47 Tuc
182 S And, Andromeda nebula SN
1057 Nova 1901 (GK Per)
1841 Nova 1891 (T Aur)
2472 Nova 1903 (DM Gem)
2496 cluster NGC 2281
3515 cluster M67 = NGC 2682
3671 globular cluster NGC 2808
6309 Nova Oph #2, 1848 (V848 Oph)
6515 Nova Oph #1, 1604 (Kepler's Nova)
7189 Nova Sgr 1899 (V1016 Sgr)
7539 Nova 1670 (CK Vul)
8296 Nova Cyg #2 (Q Cyg)