NSSDC/WDC-A-R&S 84-06
DOCUMENTATION FOR THE MACHINE-READABLE VERSION
OF THE
AGK3 STAR CATALOGUE OF POSITIONS AND PROPER MOTIONS
NORTH OF -2.5 DEGREES DECLINATION
(DIECKVOSS AND COLLABORATORS 1975)
Wayne H. Warren Jr.
May 1984
National Space Science Data Center (NSSDC)/
World Data Center A for Rockets and Satellites (WDC-A-R&S)
National Aeronautics and Space Administration
Goddard Space Flight Center
Greenbelt, Maryland 20771
DOCUMENTATION FOR THE MACHINE-READABLE VERSION
OF THE
AGK3 STAR CATALOGUE OF POSITIONS AND PROPER MOTIONS
NORTH OF -2.5 DEGREES DECLINATION
(DIECKVOSS AND COLLABORATORS 1975)
ABSTRACT
A detailed description of the machine-readable catalog as it is currently
being distributed from the Astronomical Data Center is given. The version de-
scribed is that originally received from the Astronomisches Rechen-Institut,
Heidelberg, with a few minor corrections found when the file was examined at
the Astronomical Data Center, NASA Goddard Space Flight Center.
ii
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Section 1 - INTRODUCTION AND SOURCE REFERENCE ........................... 1-1
Section 2 - FILE CONTENTS ............................................... 2-1
Section 3 - FILE CHARACTERISTICS ........................................ 3-1
Section 4 - REMARKS, MODIFICATIONS AND REFERENCES ....................... 4-1
LIST OF TABLES
Table
1 File Contents .................................................... 2-1
2 File Characteristics ............................................. 3-1
3 Numbers of AGK2 and AGK3 Stars in Each Zone ...................... 4-1
4 List of 446 AGK2 Stars Omitted from AGK3 ......................... 4-4
5 List of Three Stars New in AGK3 .................................. 4-6
6 AGK3 Stars for which Proper-Motion Data in a and/or w are Missing 4-6
7 List of 19 Stars with AGK3 Component Identifications ............. 4-7
8 AGK3 Stars with Probable Erroneous w Data ........................ 4-8
iii
SECTION 1 - INTRODUCTION AND SOURCE REFERENCE
The AGK3 Star Catalogue of Positions and Proper Motions North of -2.5 Degrees
Declination (hereinafter AGK3) was conceived and planned during discussions
between O. Heckmann and D. Brouwer at Hamburg Observatory following the 1952
International Astronomical Union (IAU) General Assembly in Rome. It was
concluded that an adequate number of reference stars (AGK3R) should be
observed by as many meridian circles of as many observatories as possible, the
revision of FK3, then in progress (FK4), should define the reference frame,
and the same instruments as used for AGK2 should be used for the observations
for AGK3. A formal recommendation was adopted through Commission 8 at the
1955 IAU General Assembly in Dublin, with the observatories at Babelsberg,
Bergedorf, Bordeaux, Greenwich, Heidelberg, Nikolajew, Ottawa, Paris, Pulkovo,
Strasbourg and Washington (USNO) to collaborate in the work, and with F. P.
Scott (USNO) to coordinate the meridian circle observations of AGK3R stars.
The completion of the photographic observations was to be the responsibility
of the observatories at Bergedorf and Bonn, with all plate measurements to be
done at the former. (However, it was finally decided that all plates, even
for the AGK2 Bonn zones, would be taken at Bergedorf.) The plates for AGK3
were secured at Bergedorf between August 1956 and June 1964, with special
precautions (exposures on both sides of the pier) made to compensate for
possible changes in the camera objective. The two sets of plates were
measured at Bergedorf in opposite directions and averaged to obtain final x,y
coordinates. The detailed procedures for the correction of magnitude-color
errors, reduction of the measures using the AGK3R stars, re-reduction of AGK2
using its reference catalog AGK2A transformed to the FK4 system, and final
reduction of the AGK3 positions and proper motions, are discussed by W.
Dieckvoss in his technical introduction to the source reference. Although a
more detailed discussion of errors is given by Dieckvoss, the standard error
for one coordinate on one plate as determined from a limited sample of 110
pairs of plates is plus or minus 0.025" for AGK3.
This document describes the machine-readable version of the AGK3 as it is
currently being distributed by the Astronomical Data Center. It is intended to
enable users to process the machine-readable file and its data without problems
and guesswork. A copy of this document should be supplied with any secondary
copies of the machine version originally obtained from the Astronomical Data
Center.
SOURCE REFERENCE
Dieckvoss, W. (in collaboration with H. Kox, A. Gunther and E. Brosterhus)
1975, AGK3 Star Catalogue of Positions and Proper Motions North of -2.5
Degrees Declination, Hamburg-Bergedorf (printed with financial support from
Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft Bonn-Bad Godesberg).
1-1
SECTION 2 - FILE CONTENTS
A byte-by-byte description of the contents of the machine-readable AGK3 file
is given in Table 1. The suggested format specifications apply to FORTRAN
formatted read statements, but can be modified depending upon individual
programming and processing requirements. Default values are given only for
those fields where the primary suggested format specifications are numerical,
but where data are not always present; null values are always blanks in fields
for which primary suggested formats are given as character (A), except that a
null value of "0" is present in multiple-system component identifications.
Alternate format specifications are given in parentheses.
Table 1. File Contents. AGK3 Catalogue.
Suggested Default
Byte(s) Units Format Value Description
1 --- A1 --- Sign of AGK3 number.
2- 3 --- I2 --- AGK3 zone.
4- 7 --- I4 --- AGK3 number in increasing order within
each declination zone. The field is
filled with preceding zeros.
8 --- A1 "0" Component identification when duplicate
AGK3 numbers occur. The lower case
letters "a" and "b" may be present.
9-11 mag F3.1 blank Photographic magnitude, mpg, taken from
AGK2 and recorded as an integer.
12-13 --- A2 blank Spectral type adopted from the Henry
Draper Catalogue (Cannon and Pickering
1918-1924), its Extension (Cannon 1925-
1936), Schildt (Yale Transactions) or
determined by A. N. Vyssotsky and col-
laborators at the Leander-McCormick Obs.
14-15 hours I2 --- Right ascension for equator and
equinox 1950.0.
16-17 min I2 --- Right ascension
18-22 sec F5.3 --- Right ascension, recorded as an integer
number.
23 --- A1 --- Sign of declination for equator and
equinox 1950.0.
24-25 deg I2 --- Declination
26-27 arcmin I2 --- Declination
28-31 arcsec F4.2 --- Declination, written as an integer
number.
2-1
Table 1 (continued)
Suggested Default
Byte(s) Units Format Value Description
32-33 --- I2 --- Number of photographic observations used
to determine the position. Single-digit
numbers are preceded by a zero.
34-37 years F4.2 --- Epoch of AGK3 position - 1900 (e.g.
1958.81 is recorded as 5881).
38 --- A1 --- Sign of annual proper motion in right
ascension.
39-42 0.001" F4.3 blank Annual proper motion in right ascension
multiplied by cos(delta), determined by
differencing the AGK3 and AGK2 positions
and dividing by the epoch difference.
Proper motions are missing for stars new
in AGK3 (see Table 6). If a calculated
value of the proper motion exceeded the
field capacity a value of "9999" is given
with a "+" in byte 38. The suggested
format reads the datum in the correct
units.
43 --- A1 --- Sign of annual proper motion in
declination.
44-47 0.001" F4.3 blank Annual proper motion in declination.
See information for bytes 39-42.
48-51 years F4.2 blank Epoch difference AGK3-AGK2.
52-53 --- A2 blank 'BD' catalog designation
54 --- A1 blank Sign of zone number
55-56 --- A2 (I2) blank BD zone.
57-61 --- A5 (I5) blank BD number within zone.
62 --- A1 (I1) zero Numerical code for identification of a
component of a multiple system: (1 =
primary [P]; 2 = secondary [S]; 3 = A;
4 = B; 5 = S1; 6 = S2; 7 = P1; 8 = P2;
9 = C). BD supplemental stars (lower
case letters) are assigned codes but are
indistinguishable from A and B desig-
nations because the codes are the same.
Since the file format only allows one
byte for the duplicity code, and nine
2-2
Table 1 (continued)
Suggested Default
Byte(s) Units Format Value Description
codes are already used, the distinction
cannot be drawn. If it is necessary to
distinguish or identify supplemental
stars, the Catalog of BD Supplemental
Stars (Warren and Kress 1980) should be
used.
63-64 --- A2 (I2) --- Sum of discrepancy codes, calculated as
the sum of 2**v (2 to the power of v),
where v = 0 (BD number), 1 (mpg and/or
spectral type), 2 (AGK2 right ascension),
3 (AGK2 declination), 4 (AGK3 right
ascension), 5 (AGK3 declination).
65 --- A1 --- Sign of right ascension proper motion
following.
66-70 sec F5.4 blank Annual proper motion in right ascension,
computed by dividing by 15cos(delta).
71 --- A1 --- Sign of right ascension difference.
72-76 arcsec F5.4 blank The residual quantity of the difference
in right ascension (multiplied by
cos(delta)) in the sense AGK3 -
(AGK2modified), where the last quantity
denotes data from the re-reduced AGK2.
77 --- A1 --- Sign of declination difference.
76-82 arcsec F5.4 blank The residual quantity of the difference
in declination in the sense AGK3 -
(AGK2modified).
2-3
SECTION 3 - FILE CHARACTERISTICS
The information in Table 2 is sufficient for a user to describe the indigenous
characteristics of the AGK3 Catalogue to a computer. Information easily
varied from installation to installation, such as block size (physical record
length), blocking factor (number of logical records per physical record), total
number of blocks, tape density, number of tracks, and internal coding (EBCDIC,
ASCII, etc.) is not included for tapes. These parameters should always be
transmitted if secondary copies of the catalog are supplied to other users or
installations.
Table 2. File Characteristics. AGK3 Catalogue.
NUMBER OF FILES .................................................. 1
LOGICAL RECORD LENGTH (BYTES) .................................... 82
RECORD FORMAT .................................................... Fixed
TOTAL NUMBER OF LOGICAL RECORDS .................................. 183145
3-1
SECTION 4 - REMARKS, MODIFICATIONS AND REFERENCES
The machine version of the AGK3 was received on magnetic tape from the Centre
de Donnees Stellaires, Strasbourg in 1978. The version received had been
obtained originally from the Astronomisches Rechen-Institut in Heidelberg. A
preliminary document for a modified and corrected version of the catalog was
produced by Nagy (1979). The following changes were made to the Heidelberg
file in order to correct some minor errors and to produce a file conforming
more closely to the published version:
1. AGK3 component identifications for stars where more than one AGK3 star has
the same number were changed from upper case characters (A, B) to lower
case (a, b) as in the printed edition.
2. Nine stars in AGK3 zone -00, but in BD zone +00 were found to have a BD
zone of +90. The BD zone for these stars was changed to +00. These
stars are: AGK3 -00 1467, 1510, 1530, 1531, 1532, 1602, 1693, 1774, and
2120.
The tables following give information on the zone statistics of the AGK3, on
stars for which proper-motion data are not included, and on stars which are
omitted or new in AGK3. These tables are taken from documentation prepared by
T. Lederle (1976) for distribution with the Heidelberg version of the AGK3
tape. Table 8 lists positional data for two AGK3 stars for which the
declination data are suspect. These stars were pointed out by D. W. Dunham. A
list of errata to AGK3 magnitudes recently published by Willstrop (1983) has
not been incorporated into this version of the machine-readable catalog.
Table 3. Numbers of AGK2 and AGK3 Stars in Each Zone.
Number Omitted New in Number
Zone in AGK2 in AGK3 AGK3 in AGK3
+89 56 2 - 54
+88 136 - - 136
+87 180 - - 180
+86 329 - - 329
+85 402 - - 402
+84 518 - - 518
+83 618 1 - 617
+82 731 - - 731
+81 739 - - 739
+80 508 1 - 507
4-1
Table 3 (continued)
Number Omitted New in Number
Zone in AGK2 in AGK3 AGK3 in AGK3
+79 698 1 - 697
+78 586 1 - 585
+77 700 - - 700
+76 981 - - 981
+75 1027 - - 1027
+74 704 - - 704
+73 643 1 - 642
+72 659 - - 659
+71 733 - - 733
+70 853 3 - 850
+69 1056 - - 1056
+68 1054 - - 1054
+67 1099 - - 1099
+66 1247 - - 1247
+65 1332 - - 1332
+64 1266 - - 1266
+63 1372 4 - 1368
+62 1501 5 - 1496
+61 1511 5 - 1506
+60 1626 6 - 1620
+59 1672 7 - 1665
+58 1611 3 - 1608
+57 1719 8 - 1711
+56 1793 2 - 1791
+55 1740 6 - 1734
+54 1726 4 - 1722
+53 1711 8 - 1703
+52 1847 8 - 1839
+51 1866 4 - 1862
+50 2018 8 - 2010
+49 2182 4 - 2178
+48 2149 8 1 2142
+47 2141 4 - 2137
+46 2233 2 1 2232
+45 2210 5 - 2205
+44 2267 2 - 2265
+43 2315 4 - 2311
+42 2341 2 - 2339
+41 2368 1 - 2367
+40 2515 - - 2515
4-2
Table 3 (continued)
Number Omitted New in Number
Zone in AGK2 in AGK3 AGK3 in AGK3
+39 2544 5 - 2539
+38 2466 6 - 2460
+37 2371 8 - 2363
+36 2460 10 - 2450
+35 2496 - - 2496
+34 2457 2 - 2455
+33 2396 - - 2396
+32 2384 1 - 2383
+31 2466 4 - 2462
+30 2692 5 - 2687
+29 2978 3 - 2975
+28 2859 2 - 2857
+27 2820 1 - 2819
+26 2849 1 - 2848
+25 2861 2 - 2859
+24 2594 1 - 2593
+23 2491 1 - 2490
+22 2591 3 - 2588
+21 2640 6 - 2634
+20 2676 8 - 2668
+19 2478 12 - 2466
+18 2415 8 - 2407
+17 2652 7 - 2645
+16 2646 9 1 2638
+15 2666 13 - 2653
+14[1] 2661 15 - 2646
+13 2568 9 - 2559
+12 2816 21 - 2795
+11 2996 14 - 2982
+10[2] 3289 21 - 3268
+ 9 3330 21 - 3309
+ 8 3296 13 - 3283
+ 7 3456 9 - 3447
+ 6 3254 8 - 3246
+ 5 3434 10 - 3424
+ 4 3199 7 - 3192
+ 3 3063 9 - 3054
+ 2 2998 11 - 2987
+ 1 2877 5 - 2872
+ 0 2957 4 - 2953
4-3
Table 3 (concluded)
Number Omitted New in Number
Zone in AGK2 in AGK3 AGK3 in AGK3
- 0 3018 9 - 3009
- 1 2893 10 - 2883
- 2 1246 12 - 1234
Total 183588 446 3 183145
[1] Note that star +14 1650 was missing in AGK2 already
[2] Note that star +10 986 was missing in AGK2 already
Table 4. List of the 446 AGK2 Stars Omitted from AGK3.
+89 4 +59 31 +53 120 +49 1611 +39 463 +34 1005
52 388 155 1785 2084 +32 446
+83 41 389 377 +48 83 2085 +31 239
+80 5 391 378 108 2087 1305
+79 157 704 380 457 2088 1341
+78 245 1076 381 459 +38 211 1435
+73 621 1165 383 460 875 +30 838
+70 738 +58 380 384 462 1000 944
776 381 +52 36 463 1225 1424
838 1609 417 1751 1711 1646
+63 28* +57 282 +52 418 +47 422 +38 2350* +30 2496
162 468 419 424 +37 434 +29 492
544 469 420 425 991 1162
796 470 1009 426 1265 2255
+62 353 471 1490a +46 185 1495 +28 209
354 778 1490b 1980 2049 1124
355 1017 +51 168 +45 412 2138 +27 1118
548 1640 513 1730 2188 +26 2794
790 +56 170 514 1985 2273 +25 464
+61 361 869 1411 2144 +36 444 465
+61 377 +55 365 +50 47 +45 2196 +36 665 +24 456
378 392 173 +44 337 764 +23 481
379 563 391 618 883 +22 817
382 595 432 +43 58 1016 818
+60 396 884 433 1960 1334 2096
398 1530 524 2289 1340 +21 251
399 +54 90 766 2305 1386 503
434 182 1258 +42 213 2214 1083
435 408 +49 476 2291 2313 1866
438 1471 477 +41 1837 +34 553 1977
4-4
Table 4 (concluded)
+21 2164 +15 131 +12 799 +10 2264 + 7 3100 + 2 2304
+20 491 247 1094 2518 + 6 574 + 1 122
839 356 1199 3107 637 662
1363 529 1416 + 9 255 1136 1599
1633 1219 1421 317 1155 1784
1666 1471 1568 381 1421 2016
1711 1542 1569 544 1833 + 0 229
1886 1579 1768 549 2617 2241
1962 1580 1827 754 3249 2415
+19 176 1595 2243 1050 + 5 120 2901
+19 243 +15 1690 +12 2597 + 9 1239 + 5 186 - 0 616
352 1692 2760 1241 425 648
1335 2267 2782 1308 525 1104
1372 +14 11 +11 23 1321 1072 1637
1509 116 44 1388 1999 1719
1525 413 147 1482 2439 1843
1531 597 163 1621 3105 2584
1666 1239 393 1923 3241 2832
1867 1444* 399 1973 3403 2882
1953 1510 438 2155 + 4 617 - 1 300
+19 2173 +14 1600 +11 1107 + 9 2190 + 4 698 - 1 345
+18 894 1643 1231 2822 748 596
1196 1736 1241 3049 1079 622
1238 1954 1470 3065 1919 1517
1285 2256 2242 + 8 199 2178 1685
1427 2276 2513 265 2420 1734
1919 2576 2790 355 + 3 308 1906
2002 2584 +10 48 434 346 2162
2405 +13 356 172 981 696 2732
+17 384 359 403 1313 1347 - 2 13
+17 429 +13 428 +10 410 + 8 1335 + 3 1526 - 2 204
523 1186 425 2127 1660 205
1015 1193 479 2193 2068 208
1099 1410 1245 2203 2453 325
1387 1449 1293 2636 2992 428
1769 1887 1300 2842 + 2 192 870
+16 248 2300 1359 3225 505 962
256 +12 60 1425 + 7 86 801 963
257 62 1426 116 1244 1177
400 285 1427 516 1527 1180
+16 651 +12 365 +10 1428 + 7 681 + 2 1777 1215
755 389 1465 894 1946
1243 402 1538 1413 2134
2248 414 1884 1508 2151
2434 453 2092 2902 2186
* star listed in published catalog, but without proper motion
4-5
Table 5. List of Three Stars New in AGK3.
+48 1052a +46 2072a +16 1409a
Table 6. AGK3 Stars for which Proper-Motion Data in Right Ascension and/or
Declination are Missing.
Star Machine Version Published Version
+66 961 4 2
+63 164 4 2
282 4 2
452 4 2
+62 106 4 2
+60 31 4 2
1126 4 2
+59 1334 4 2
+58 545a 5 3
+57 644 4 4
+54 126 4 2
+43 1056 4 2
+42 1131 4 4
1192 4 2
+38 523 4 4
2214 4 4
+37 1649 4 4
+32 1596 6 2
+30 188 4 2
1493 4 2
+29 484 4 2
486 4 2
510 4 4
546 4 2
856 4 2
1716 4 2
+28 454 6 2
792 4 2
1077 4 2
1083 4 4
+27 126 4 2
1113 4 4
1539 4 4
+19 218 4 4
849 4 4
+18 1450 4 2
(1) No proper motion in RA and Dec; (2) Omitted from catalog; (3) Included with
proper motions; (4) Included without proper motions; (5) Proper motion in RA
only; (6) Proper motion in Dec only.
4-6
Table 7. List of 19 AGK3 Stars with Component Identifications.
AGK3 Remarks
+83 508a
508b
+78 551a
551b
+73 274a
+69 438a
+64 1087a
1087b
+63 33a
+58 545a
+55 58a
58b
+51 1442a
+48 1052a New in AGK3
+46 132a
2072a New in AGK3
+17 1610a Omitted in the printed catalog
+16 1409a
+11 889a
4-7
Table 8. AGK3 Stars with Probable Erroneous Declination Data.
AGK2 Yale SAO AGK3
AGK3 +20 549
RA: 5 40 39.31 5 40 39.304 5 40 39.317 5 40 39.203
Dec: +20 24 31.8 +20 24 31.86 +20 24 31.79 +20 24 31.15
AGK3 +24 523
RA: 5 35 23.76 5 35 27.749 5 35 23.73 5 35 23.725
Dec: +24 57 53.3 +24 57 53.54 +24 57 52.28 +24 58 8.49
REFERENCES
Cannon, A. J. (1925-1936), The Henry Draper Extension, Ann. Astron. Obs.
Harvard College 100.
Cannon, A. J. and Pickering, E. C. (1918-1924), The Henry Draper Catalogue,
Ann. Astron. Obs. Harvard College 91-99.
Dieckvoss, W. (in collaboration with H. Kox, A. Gunther and E. Brosterhus)
1975, AGK3 Star Catalogue of Positions and Proper Motions North of -2.5
Degrees Declination, Hamburg-Bergedorf (printed with financial support from
Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft Bonn-Bad Godesberg).
Nagy, T. A. 1979, Documentation for the Machine-Readable Version of the AGK3
Catalogue of Positions and Proper Motions North of -2.5 Degrees Declination,
Systems and Applied Sciences Corporation R-SAW-7/79-35.
Warren, W. H. Jr. and Kress, K. 1980, Astron. Data Center Bull. 1, 19.
Willstrop, R. V. 1983, Bull. Inf. Cent. Donnees Stellaires No. 24, 65.
4-8