Skip to main content Accessibility help
×
Hostname: page-component-7b7567c8c-tnzcf Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2026-11-14T20:06:46.253Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false

20 - Astrometric catalogs: concept, history, and necessity

from Part IV - From detected photons to the celestial sphere

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  05 December 2012

By
Carlos E. López
Edited by
William F. van Altena
Carlos E. López
Affiliation:
Universidad Nacional de San Juan
William F. van Altena
Affiliation:
Yale University, Connecticut
Get access

Summary

Introduction

A catalog is defined as a list of items, of some class, usually in systematic order, and with a description of each. In almost every catalog, it is possible to distinguish three types of data: primary, pseudoprimary, and secondary. For example, in a catalog devoted to large proper-motion stars, the primary data are the proper-motion data while spectral types or magnitudes or any additional information would be regarded as secondary data. In other words, secondary data complement the primary data. Pseudoprimary data are less important than the primary data, but for example may enable the user to uniquely identify the primary data.

The compilation of catalogs including positions, proper motions, and parallaxes is among the best-known activities of astrometry. In the early years of astronomy, providing positions of celestial bodies was a necessity for many of the ancient cultures. With roots dating back to the pre-Greek civilizations, astrometry provided the information for computing solar and lunar eclipses and the determination of time.

Catalogs and databases follow a recycling process in the sense that as new data or information are published, or better detectors become available, new comparisons, improved coordinates, proper motions, or parallaxes can be obtained. The catalogs that nowadays are considered obsolete were in earlier times widely used by the entire community and are now the basis for improved versions. In fact, probably more than any other science, astronomy is based on the analysis of data obtained through the years by different and generally unrelated research groups. Probably one of the best examples in this sense is the Astrographic Catalogue (see Section 20.3 below).

Information

Type
Chapter
Information
Astrometry for Astrophysics
Methods, Models, and Applications
 , pp. 297 - 308
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Print publication year: 2012

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

Book purchase

Temporarily unavailable

References

Armandroff, T. E., Davies, J. E., and Jacoby, G. H. (1998). A survey for low surface brightness galaxies around M31. I. The newly discovered Dwarf Andromeda V. AJ, 116, 2287.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Boboltz, D. A., Fey, A. L., Puatua, W. K., et al. (2007). Very Large Array plus Pie Town astrometry of 46 Radio Stars. AJ, 133, 906.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Boss, B. (1937). General Catalogue of 33342 Stars for the Epoch 1950. Washington, DC: Carnegie Institution of Washington, Publication 486.Google Scholar
Brown, A. G. A. (2008). Learning about Galactic structure with Gaia astrometry. AIP Conf. Proc., 1082, 209.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Bucciarelli, B., Lattanzi, M. G., McLean, B., et al. (2008). The GSC-II catalog release GSC 2.3: description and properties. Proc. IAU Symp., 248, 316.Google Scholar
Corbin, T. and Urban, S. (1990). Faint reference stars. Proc. IAU Symp., 141, 433.Google Scholar
Eichhorn, H. (1974). Astronomy of Star Positions. New York, NY: Ungar Publishing.Google Scholar
Eichhorn, H. (1992). Star catalogue, historic. In The Astronomy and Astrophysics Encyclopedia, ed. S. P., Maran, p. 661.Google Scholar
Fallon, F. and Hoffleit, D. (1983). Catalogue of the positions and proper motions of stars between declinations −60° and −70°. Trans. Yale Univ. Obs., 32, No. 2.Google Scholar
Feissel, M. and Mignard, F. (1998). The adoption of ICRS on 1 January 1998: meaning and consequences. A&A, 331, L33.Google Scholar
Fey, A., Ma, C., Arias, E. F., et al. (2004). The second extension of the International Celestial Reference Frame. AJ, 127, 3587.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Fey, A., Boboltz, B., Charlot, P., et al. (2009). Extending the ICRF to higher radio frequencies. AAS Bull., 41, 676.Google Scholar
Gingerich, O. (1992). The Great Copernicus Chase and Other Adventures in Astronomical History. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.Google Scholar
Girard, T.M., Platais, I., Kozhurina-Platais, V., and van Altena, W. F. (1998a). The Southern Proper Motion Program I. AJ, 115, 855.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Girard, T. M., Dinescu, D. I., van Altena, W. F., et al. (1998b). The Yale/San Juan Southern Proper Motion Catalog 3. ASP Conf., 317, 206.Google Scholar
Girard, T. M., van Altena, W. F., Zacharias, N., et al. (2011). The Southern Proper Motion Program. IV. The SPM4 Catalog. AJ, 142, 15.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Gulyaev, A. and Nesterov, V. (1992). On the 4Million Star Catalogue (in Russian). Moscow: Moscow University Press, p. 1.Google Scholar
Hanson, R. B., Klemola, A. R., Jones, B. F., and Monet, D. G. (2004). Lick Northern Proper Motion Program III. AJ, 128, 1430.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hecht, E. and Zajac, A. (1982). Optics. Reading, MA: Addison-Wesley.Google Scholar
Hoeg, E. (2008). Astrometry and optics during the past 2000 years. See: www.astro.ku.dk/~erik/HistoryAll.pdf.
Jaschek, C. (1989). Data in Astronomy. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, p. 52–54.Google Scholar
Jiménez-Esteban, F., Caballero, J., and Solano, E. (2011). Identification of blue high proper motion objects in the Tycho-2 and 2MASS catalogues using Virtual Observatory tools. A&A, 525, A29. (arXiv:1009.3466).Google Scholar
Klemola, A. R., Jones, B. F., and Hanson, R. B. (1987). Lick Northern Proper Motion Program. AJ, 94, 501.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Krisciunas, K. (1993). A more complete analysis of the errors in Ulugh Beg's star catologue. J. History Astron., 24, 269.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
López Martí, B., Jiménez-Esteban, F., and Solano, E. (2011). A proper motion study of the Lupus clouds using Virtual Observatory tools. A&A, 529, A108.Google Scholar
Ma, C., Arias, E. F., Eubanks, T. M., et al. (1998). The International Celestial Reference Frame as realized by very long baseline interferometry. AJ, 116, 516.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
McLean, B. (2001). An overview of existing ground-based wide-area surveys. ASP Conf., 225, 103.Google Scholar
Mignard, F., Cellino, A., Muinonen, K., et al. (2007). The Gaia mission: expected applications to asteroid science. Earth, Moon, and Planets, 101, 97.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Monet, D. G., Levine, S. E., Canazian, B., et al. (2003). The USNO-B Catalog. AJ, 125, 984.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Morgan, H. R. (1952). Catalog of 5268 standard stars, based on the normal system N30. Astron. Papers Am. Eph. And Naut. Alm., 13.Google Scholar
Reid, M. (2008). Micro-arcsecond astrometry with the VLBA. Proc. IAU Symp., 248, 474.Google Scholar
Röser, S. and Bastian, U. (1993). The final PPM Star Catalogue for both hemispheres. Bull. Inform. CDS, 42, 11.Google Scholar
Röser, S., Bastian, U., and Kuzmin, A. (1994). PPM Star Catalogue: the 9000 stars supplement. A&AS, 105, 301.Google Scholar
Schlesinger, F. F., Hudson, C. J., Jenkins, L., and Barney, J. (1926). Catalogue of 5833 stars −2° to +1°. Trans. Yale Univ. Obs., 5.Google Scholar
Sozzetti, A. (2010). The Gaia Astrometric Survey. Highlights of Astronomy, 15, 716.Google Scholar
Thompson, A. R., Moran, J. M., and Swenson, G. W. (1991). Interferometry and Synthesis in Radio Astronomy. Malabar, FL: Krieger Publications.Google Scholar
Urban, S., Corbin, T., and Wycoff, G. (1998). The AC 2000: the Astrographic Catalogue on the system defined by the Hipparcos Catalogue. AJ, 115, 2161.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Urban, S., Corbin, T. E., Wycoff, G. L., et al. (2001). The AC 2000 Catalogue. Bull. Am. Astron. Soc., 33, 1494.Google Scholar
Walter, H. G. and Sovers, O. J. (2000). Astrometry of Fundamentals Catalogues. New York, NY: Springer.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Williams, R. (2001). Approaches to federation of astronomical data. ASP Conf. Ser., 225, 302.Google Scholar
Zacharias, N., Urban, S. E., Zacharius, M. I., et al. (2004). The Second US Naval Observatory CCD Astrograph Catalog. AJ, 127, 3043.CrossRefGoogle Scholar

Accessibility standard: Unknown

Why this information is here

This section outlines the accessibility features of this content - including support for screen readers, full keyboard navigation and high-contrast display options. This may not be relevant for you.

Accessibility Information

Accessibility compliance for the PDF of this chapter is currently unknown and may be updated in the future.

Save book to Kindle

To save this book to your Kindle, first ensure no-reply@cambridge.org is added to your Approved Personal Document E-mail List under your Personal Document Settings on the Manage Your Content and Devices page of your Amazon account. Then enter the ‘name’ part of your Kindle email address below. Find out more about saving to your Kindle.

Note you can select to save to either the @free.kindle.com or @kindle.com variations. ‘@free.kindle.com’ emails are free but can only be saved to your device when it is connected to wi-fi. ‘@kindle.com’ emails can be delivered even when you are not connected to wi-fi, but note that service fees apply.

Find out more about the Kindle Personal Document Service.

Available formats
×

Save book to Dropbox

To save content items to your account, please confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your account. Find out more about saving content to Dropbox.

Available formats
×

Save book to Google Drive

To save content items to your account, please confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your account. Find out more about saving content to Google Drive.

Available formats
×