The following document lists the file adc.doc
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NSSDC/WDC-A-R&S 87-17
A Finding List for Observers of Interacting Binary Stars
Fifth Edition (Wood et al. 1980)
DOCUMENTATION FOR THE MACHINE-READABLE VERSION
Young Woon Kang
December 1987
Revised by:
Susan E. Gessner
March, 1991
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
A Finding List for Observers of Interacting Binary Stars
Fifth Edition (Wood et al. 1980)
DOCUMENTATION FOR THE MACHINE-READABLE VERSION
ABSTRACT
The machine-readable version of the catalog, as it is currently being
distributed by the Astronomical Data Center, is described. This catalog is
abstracted from the CARD CATALOG currently maintained at the University of
Florida in which information on all published and, to the extent available,
unpublished work on eclipsing binaries is collected. The fifth edition differs
from previous ones in the extension of the magnitude limit at maximum light
from 13 to 15.
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Section 1 -INTRODUCTION. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .1-1
Section 2 -FILE CONTENTS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .2-1
Section 3 -FILE CHARACTERISTICS. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .3-1
Section 4 -REMARKS, MODIFICATION, ACKNOWLEDGMENTS AND
REFERENCES . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .4-1
LIST OF TABLES
Table
1 Contents of Data File . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .2-1
2 Contents of Remarks File. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .2-5
3 File Characteristics. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .3-1
ii
SECTION 1 - INTRODUCTION
"A Finding List for Observers of Interacting Binary Stars" (FL) is compiled
from the CARD CATALOG, currently maintained at the University of Florida, in
which information on all published and, to the extent available, unpublished
work on eclipsing binaries is collected. The CARD CATALOG originated with
Raymond Smith Dugan in the 1930's, who published from it the first edition of
"A Finding List for Observers of Eclipsing Variables" (Dugan 1934). Successive
editions of FL were subsequently published by Pierce (1947), by Wood (1953), by
Koch et al. (1963), and by Wood et al. (1980). The FL was conceived as an aid
to observers of eclipsing variables in selecting an observing program
efficiently from the collection of all known data in an easy-to-use format.
Although this format has changed over the years to meet existing requirements,
the basic information content remains the same. The current edition differs
from previous ones in the extension of the magnitude limit at minimum light
from 13 to 15. In earlier editions, a binary system was not included unless
the editors were reasonably certain that the system was indeed an eclipsing or
(rarely) an ellipsoidal variable. The fifth edition includes all systems that
the editors were fairly certain are either eclipsing or radiometrically
variable binaries.
This document describes the machine-readable version of the fifth edition of "A
Finding List for Observers of Interacting Binary Stars", as it is currently
being distributed from the Astronomical Data Center, NASA Goddard Space Flight
Center. It is intended to enable users of the machine version to read and
process the data without problems and guesswork. For additional information
concerning the data compilation and history of the FL, users should consult the
published version referenced below. A copy of this document should accompany
any secondary copy of the machine version originally obtained from the ADC.
SOURCE REFERENCE
Wood, F.B., Oliver, J.P., Florkowski, D.R. and Koch, R.H. 1980, A Finding List
for Observers of Interacting Binary Stars, 5th Ed., Publ. Department of
Astronomy, University of Florida, Vol. I = Publ. Univ. Pennsylvania,
Astronomical Series, Vol. XII.
1-1
SECTION 2 - FILE CONTENTS
Detailed descriptions of the file contents of the machine version of "A Finding
List for Observers of Interacting Binary Stars", 5th Edition are given in
Tables 1 and 2. Table 1 describes the contents of the data file (first file),
where numerical data of 3564 stars are listed in order of FL number. Table 2
describes the contents of the remarks file (second file), where alphanumeric
data for stars in file 1 are listed in the same order as file 1 except for
binary pulsars and the Magellanic Clouds. Thus, file 2 contains only 3546
stars. The suggested format can be modified depending upon usage, but care
must always be exercised when changing character formats to integer or real.
It should also be kept in mind that default values for most character (A)
formatted data are blanks and numerically formatted WRITE statements will
produce zero values.
Table 1. Contents of Data File. A Finding List for Observers of Interacting
Binary Stars, 5th Edition.
Suggested Default
Byte(s) Units format value Description
1- 4 --- I4 --- Finding List Number. Numbers are
assigned in catalog order, i.e., in
order of increasing right ascension
at the equinox of 1900.0.
5- 12 --- A8 blank Star name. Common name for system.
When available, the Bayer or Flam-
steed designation may be used. In
this case, the variable star desig-
nation will be entered in other
catalog columns. Three-character
abbreviations for Greek letters are
used where appropriate.
13- 16 hours I2 --- Right ascension in hours and minutes
min I2 of time at the equinox of 1900.0
17 --- A1 --- Sign of declination, equinox 1900.0.
18- 19 deg I2 --- Dec, degrees
20- 23 mag F4.1 99.0 Blue magnitude at maximum light of
system.
24 --- A1 --- Bandpass of maximum light. If blue
magnitude is not available at
maximum light, a letter indicates
other bandpasses (e.g., U for ultra-
violet, V for visual, R for red,
blank for blue etc.). An "N"
indicates a note in the remarks
file. A colon (:) indicates band-
pass uncertainty.
2-1
Table 1 (continued)
Suggested Default
Byte(s) Units format value Description
25- 27 mag F3.1 blank Depth of primary minimum in the same
bandpass as magnitude at maximum
light.
28 --- A1 --- Bandpass of primary minimum. See
byte 24.
29- 31 mag F3.1 blank Depth of secondary minimum light in
the same bandpass as the magnitude
at maximum light.
32 --- A1 --- Bandpass of secondary minimum light.
See byte 24.
33- 42 --- A10 --- Spectral class of the star eclipsed
at primary minimum light. A colon
(:) and a question mark (?) follow-
ing the spectral type indicate
uncertain and very uncertain types,
respectively.
43 --- A1 --- An "N" designates a note about the
above spectral class in the remarks
file.
44- 53 --- A10 --- Spectral class of the star eclipsed
at secondary minimum light. See
bytes 33-42 for colon (:) and
question mark (?) definitions.
54 --- A1 --- An "N" designates a note about the
above spectral class in the remarks
file.
55- 65 days F11.5 blank Most recent reliable epoch of
primary minimum (the first two
digits of the Julian Day Number
suppressed). The literature refer-
ence is given as the first entry in
the remarks file. The precision
varies, with lower precision
indicated by blanks in the trailing
bytes of field.
2-2
Table 1 (continued)
Suggested Default
Byte(s) Units format value Description
66 --- A1 --- An "N" designates a note about the
epoch of primary minimum in the
remarks file. A colon (:) designates
uncertain epoch.
67- 82 day F16.9 blank Most recent orbital period. If byte
83 contains a "Y", the unit of
orbital period is year.
83 --- A1 --- An "N" designates a note about
orbital period in the remarks file
and Y for year in the unit of
orbital period. A colon (:)
designates uncertain orbital period.
The precision varies, with lower
precision indicated by blanks in
the trailing bytes of the field.
84- 87 hours I4 -999 Duration of primary minimum in hours
unless followed by a "D" (days) or a
"Y" (years).
88 --- A1 --- Unit of duration of primary minimum.
A "D" is for days, a "Y" for years.
See bytes 33-43 for colon (:) and
question mark (?) definitions. An
"N" designates a note about duration
of primary minimum in the remarks
file.
89- 92 hours I4 -999 Duration of the total phase
(totality) of primary minimum.
93 --- A1 --- Unit of duration of totality. A "D"
is for days, and a "Y" for years. An
"N" designates a note about the
duration of totality in the remarks
file. See bytes 33-42 for colon (:)
and question mark (?) definitions.
94-103 --- A10 --- Bonner Durchmusterung (BD) number
(Argelander 1859-1862, Kstner 1903)
104-113 --- A10 --- Cordoba Durchmusterung (CD) number
(Thome 1892-1932).
2-3
Table 1 (continued)
Suggested Default
Byte(s) Units format value Description
114-123 --- A10 --- Cape Photographic Durchmusterung
(CP) number (Gill and Kapteyn 1895-
1900).
124-129 --- A6 --- The Henry Draper Catalog (HD)
number (Cannon and Pickering 1918-
1924) and The Henry Draper Extension
number (Cannon 1925-1936, Cannon and
Walton Mayall 1949).
130-161 --- A32 --- Alternate designations for the
system in blocks of 8 bytes for each
identifier. There may be catalog
identifiers and numbers, variable
designations, etc.
162-175 --- A14 --- Up to 14 alphanumeric codes
indicating the nature of each
system. The complete list of codes
follows.
Code Meaning
A variable period
B variable period?
C light elements uncertain
D eccentric orbit
E faint companion
F third light
G times of minimum recorded
by group such as AAVSO,
BBSAG, etc.
H variable comparison star?
J atmospheric eclipses
K asymmetric light curve
L variable light curve
M light curve poorly known
N asymmetric minima
P photometric analysis
available
Q hydrogen emission seen
R Ca II emission seen
S radial velocity curve
available
T variable radial velocity
curve
2-4
Table 1 (concluded)
Suggested Default
Byte(s) Units format value Description
U double-lined spectroscopic
binary
V absolute dimension known
W UV excess
X IR excess
Y polarization observed
Z variable polarization
1 X-ray source
2 radio source
3 visual binary
4 cluster member
5 intrinsic variable
6 ellipsoidal variable
7 not eclipsing binary?
8 apsidal motion
Table 2 Contents of Remarks File. A Finding List for Observers of
Interacting Binary Stars, 5th Edition.
Suggested Default
Byte(s) Units format value Description
1- 4 --- I4 --- Finding List number.
5- 13 --- A9 --- Star name as in data file.
14 --- 1X --- Blank
15-134 --- A120 --- Alphanumeric data, notes to at least
a representative sample of the
literature citations concerning each
binary. If these notes are longer
than 120 bytes, they start from the
15th byte of next logical record
until they end, while FL No. and
star name are repeated in the fields
of 1-4 bytes and 5-13 bytes respec-
tively.
2-5
SECTION 3 - FILE CHARACTERISTICS
The information reported in Table 3 is sufficient for a user to read the
machine version of the catalog. File characteristics that often vary among
computer installations, such as block (physical record) size, blocking factor
(logical records/physical record), total number of blocks, density (for tape),
and coding (EBCDIC, ASCII, BCD, etc.), are not listed here, but should always
be transmitted with secondary copies of the catalog. Data for the two files of
the catalog are separated by commas in the table.
Table 3 File characteristics. A Finding List for Observers of Interacting
Binary Stars, 5th Edition.
NUMBER OF FILES. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .2
LOGICAL RECORD LENGTH (BYTES). . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 175, 134
RECORD FORMAT. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Fixed
NUMBER OF LOGICAL RECORDS. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3564, 5488
3-1
Section 4 - REMARKS, MODIFICATIONS, ACKNOWLEDGMENTS AND REFERENCES
The machine version of A Finding List for Observers of Interacting Binary
Stars, 5th edition was received from the authors on 2 March 1981. As received
the catalog comprised five files of data. The first file contained a
description of a format of the data tape. The second file contained the
numerical data for each system. These data are similar to those listed on the
left-hand page of the published volume, but the addition of the alphanumeric
codes indicating the nature of each binary system. The third, fourth, and fifth
files were "print files" containing the entire text of the left-hand pages, the
right-hand pages (notes to at least a representative sample of literature
citations concerning each binary), and both side pages, respectively. These
files were essentially identical to the tape which produced the published
volume.
In order to prepare a uniform machine-processable catalog, the third and fifth
files were deleted. The introductory file was incorperated into this
machine-readable document. Thus, the present version has 2 files (data,
remarks). The format of the second file was modified so that the data for each
star occupy one fixed length record instead of two. To avoid overlapping
columns, to align spectral classes, and to align decimal points in the orbital
period and epoch fields, the logical record length was increased by 13 bytes to
the present 175 bytes. The first file now has totally uniform logical records
that can be searched and sorted in various ways if desired. Special coding to
indicate the lowercase letters was deleted and lower case letters were used in
the name, spectral classes and other catalog fields. The default values of
blue magnitude at maximum light (bytes 20-23), depth of primary minimum (bytes
25-27) and secondary minimum (bytes 29-31), duration of primary minimum (bytes
84-87) and the total phase (89-92) have been changed. The old values were
-99., -9., -9., -99 and -99 respectively, while the new values are 99.0, blank,
blank, -999, -999. The second file had many redundant spaces because it was
produced specifically for printing. All redundant spaces were eliminated. The
Finding List number and star name were added to consecutive remarks for the
same system so that the records can be reordered automatically if they become
inadvertently disordered.
Argelander, F. 1859-1862, Bonner Sternverzeichnis, Erste bis dritte sektion,
Astronomischen Beobachtugen auf der Sternwarte des Koniglichen Rhein.
Friedrich-Wilhelms-Universitat zu Bonn, Bande 3-5.
Cannon, A. J. and Pickering, E. C. 1918-1924, The Henry Draper Catalogue, Ann.
Astron. Obs. Harvard College 91-99.
Cannon, A. J. and Walton Mayall, M. 1949, The Henry Draper Extension, The Annie
J. Cannon Memorial Volume, Ann. Astron. Obs. Harvard College 112.
Dugan, R. S. 1934, A Finding List for Observers of Eclipsing Variables,
Princeton University Observatory Contribution No. 15.
Gill, D. and Kapteyn, J. C. 1895-1900, Cape Photographic Durchmusterung, Ann.
Cape Obs. 3 (1985, Part I: zones -18 to -37 deg); 4 (1897, Part II: zones
-38 to -52 deg); 5 (1900, Part III: zones -53 to -89 deg).
Koch, R. H., Sobieski S., and Wood, F. B. 1963, A Finding List for Observers of
Eclipsing Variables, 4th edition, University of Pennsylvania Astronomical
Series, Vol. IX.
4-1
Pierce, N. L. 1947, A Finding List for Observers of Eclipsing Variables, 2nd
edition, Princeton University Observatory Contribution No. 22.
Thome, J. M. 1892-1932, Cordoba Durchmusterung, Resultados del Observatorio
Nacional Argentino 16 (1892, Part I: -22 to -32 deg), 17 (1894, Part II:
-32 to -42 deg), 18 (1900, Part III: -42 to -52 deg), 21 (Part I) (1914,
Part IV, -52 to -62 deg), 21 (Part II) (1932, Part V: -62 to -90 deg).
Wood, F. B. 1953, A Finding List for Observers of Eclipsing Variables, 3rd
edition, University of Pennsylvania Astronomical Series, Vol. VIII.
Wood, F. B., Oliver, J. P., Florkowski, D. R. and Koch, R. H. 1980, A Finding
List for Observers of Interacting Binary Stars, 5th edition, Publ. Department
of Astronomy, University of Florida, Vol. I=Publ. Univ. of Pennsylvania,
Astronomical Series, Vol. XII.
4-2