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The following star catalogs and related astronomy reference books are useful for locating information about stars. They are located in Rodgers Library for Science and Engineering. The reference books are located in the Reference Section to the right (south) on the first floor. The books that are not in Reference are located on the 2nd floor on the north side.
What is a Star Catalog?
A star catalog is "a list of spherical coordinates of stars or their equivalent, such as standard coordinates, that were obtained by the evaluation and reduction of observations made expressly for the accurate determination of stellar positions." (Eichhorn in Astronomy of Star Positions, 1974, p. 1)
There are many star catalogs in Rodgers Library for Science and Engineering Library.
Selected star catalogs and books in first floor reference
Astronomical Almanac (U.S. Naval Observatory)
Science & Engineering Library Reference QB 8 .U58 • parts
also available online
The Bright Star Catalogue : Containing Data Compiled Through
1979
Science & Engineering Library Reference QB 843 .B75 B74 1982x,
(also supplement) QB 843 .B75 B74 Suppl
Also available online from two different sources, see Web resources below.
John Flamsteed Collection
Historiæ coelestis libri duo quorum prior exhibet catalogum stellarum
fixarum Britannicum ... Posterior transitus syderum ... complectitur. Observante
Johanne Flamsteedio A.R. in observatorio regio Grenovicensi continua serie
ab anno 1676 ad annum 1705 completum Publisher: Londini : typis J. Matthews,
1712. Available
in Eighteenth Century Collections Online.
Hipparcos Catalogue is
available on the web through the Vizier
Catalog Service listed in the Web resources below.
Henry Draper Catalogue
SEL REF QB QB6 .H3643 1918 9 volumes
[v. 1] 0h, 1h, 2h, and 3h.--[v. 2] 4h, 5h, and 6h.--[v. 3] 7h and 8h.--[v. 4]
9h, 10h, and 11h.--[v. 5] 12h, 13h, and 14h.--[v. 6] 15h and 16h.--[v. 7] 17h
and 18h.--[v. 8] 19h and 20h.--[v. 9] 21h, 22h, and 23h.
The Henry Draper Catalogue is also available on the web
through the Vizier
Catalog Service listed in the Web resources below.
Millennium Star Atlas : an all-sky atlas comprising
one million stars to visual magnitude eleven from the Hipparcos and Tycho Catalogues
and ten thousand nonstellar objects
Science & Engineering Library Reference QB 65 .S62 1997 3 vols.
Norton's Star Atlas and Reference Handbook, Epoch 2000.0. 18th,
19th, and 20th editions.
Science & Engineering Library Reference QB 64 .R43 year
Proper names of stars are given in Table 33, page 130.
Sky Catalogue 2000.0
Science & Engineering Library Reference QB 6 .S54 2 vols.
Starlist 2000: A Quick Reference Star Catalog for Astronomers
Science & Engineering Library Reference QB 65 .D53 1992
Stars and Planets
Science & Engineering Library Reference QB 64 .R52
2001
Additional resources are listed in the Astronomy Reference Guide.
Selected Star Catalogs AND Books in the Second Floor Bookstacks
Burnham’s Celestial Handbook : An Observer’s
Guide to the Universe Beyond the Solar System.
Science & Engineering Library QB 64 .B85 1978 3 vols.
The Cambridge Star Atlas
Science & Engineering Library QB 65 .T537 2001
Return
to TopThere are many star catalogs in Rodgers Library for Science and Engineering.
Star catalogs are classed under different call numbers to reflect their subject differences. The following list of call numbers under which most of the catalogs are classed may help you in your search. Additional books may be located by these call numbers in the first floor Reference section, and also in the second floor Bookstacks.
The major Library of Congress call numbers for star catalogs are:
QB
6 star catalogs (older classification)
QB
65 star catalogs and atlases (general)
QB
815 photometric catalogs
QB
821 classes of stars
QB
835 variable stars
QB
843 other star types
QB
851 clusters of stars and nebulae
QB
853 clusters
QB
881 classed star catalogs
QB
883 spectral catalogs
QB 63-64 astronomy observers's manuals - will also be useful
Additional Internet resources are listed in the Astronomy Reference Guide.
The Constellations
and Their Stars
• includes List
of named stars in alphabetical order by common name
Each star page contains
links to information about other names,
HR number (Harvard
Revised Number or Bright Star Number),
HD number=Henry Draper
Catalog Number
constellation, and some
data.
You
will want to copy the HR number, the HD number, and
constellation of your star
for use in locating information.
• includes List
of 25 brightest stars with common name, scientific name,
distance
(light years), apparent magnitude, absolute magnitude, and
spectral type
Vizier Catalog Service (Harvard
mirror of large collection of star catalogs)
Enter the VizieR service at Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics
VizieR Service
Click on Browsing through Catalogues. This will link you to the
middle of this
same web page. You have a choice of browsing modes.
"Browsing modes via: Designations · Acronyms · Favorites · Date"
Acronyms -
gives you a very large list of CDS Catalogues listed by
their acronym
and usual name.
Favorites -
gives you a list of catalogues most frequently used.
Images/Spectra -
gives you a list of CDS Catalogues with additional
material (data)
You can also use the Kohonen Self-Organizing Map to pick multiple
catalogues
to search at once.
Example catalogues
from the VizieR Service:
(V/50)
Bright Star Catalogue, 5th Revised Ed. (Hoffleit+, 1991) (Vizier
Mirror
at Harvard University).
Click on the (v/50)
Catalog, the main part of the catalogue.
Search by the HD number
or the HR number.
There is a box to
search by the Bayer and/or Flamsteed name-
if you do not have this name,
leave the box blank.
(III/135A)
Henry Draper Catalogue and Extension (Cannon+ 1918-1924;
ADC 1989)(Vizier
Mirror at Harvard University)
Search by the HD (Henry
Draper) number in this catalogue.
(I/239) The Hipparcos and Tycho Catalogues (ESA 1997)
Bright Star Catalogue (from
Alcyone Software)
Search by constellation.
Latest revision, 2/28/07,
BH