Sternberg Astronomical Institute, Moscow, Russia

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THE COMBINED TABLE OF GENERAL CATALOGUE OF VARIABLE STARS VOLUMES I-III, 4TH ED. (GCVS4) (KHOLOPOV+ 1988) AND NAMELISTS OF VARIABLE STARS NOS.67-77 (KHOLOPOV+, 1985-2005)

Institute of Astronomy of Russian Academy of Sciences and Sternberg State Astronomical Institute of the Moscow State University

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INTRODUCTION

The present improved electronic version of the GCVS4 Volumes I-V, combined with Name-Lists of Variable Stars Nos.67-77, are available from Sternberg Institute to http://www.sai.msu.ru/gcvs/gcvs/

The information at this site is regularly updated (corrections of detected mistakes, improvements of identifications and coordinates, etc.).

This GCVS edition contains data for 28484 individual variable objects discovered and named as variable stars by 1982 and located mainly in the Milky Way galaxy. These data are contained in the first three published volumes. The computer version GCVS4 vols. I-III contains principally the same data as in the first three volumes of the printed catalog. The Name-lists Nos. 67-77 contain variable stars designated between 1982 and 2003; these stars are also incorporated in the combined catalog, but note that their cross-identifications with astronomical catalogues as well as remarks and references may be found in the file nl.zip, which is a complete electronic version of the Name-lists. The fourth volume of the fourth edition, published in 1990, contains a table of all variables ordered by right ascension (B1950), a table of variables listed by variability type, and an extensive series of cross-identification tables to alternative designations. The electronic version vol. IV contains only the cross- identification tables (see iv.zip). The final, fifth volume contains data for variables in external galaxies (including the Magellanic Clouds) and for extragalactic supernovae (see v.zip).

This data set is the combined computer-readable version of the GCVS4 Vols. I-III (Kholopov et al. 1985-1988) and Name-Lists of Variable Stars Nos.67-77 published in the system introduced during the preparation of the 4th GCVS edition. The total number of designated variable stars has now reached 38622; of them, 10138 stars enter the Name-Lists Nos.67-77.

All variables in the present data set are arranged in the order of their names inside constellations. For Name-list stars, the information follows the format of the Name-Lists, that is, it includes only coordinates, the variability type, the range of brightness variations, and references.

We have corrected the errors revealed in the printed Volumes I-III. Then, we have improved coordinates for those variables of Vols. I-III which also enter Volume V, using the results of the positional determinations undertaken during the preparation of Vol. V.

We have started preparation of an electronic release GCVS 4.2 which will contain improved light elements, classifications etc. along with sufficiently accurate positional information. The first approach to this project has resulted in improved equatorial positions (B1950, J2000) for all named variable stars, with a new standard of positional accuracy, to 1 second of arc.

Files: ftp://ftp.sai.msu.su/pub/groups/cluster/gcvs/gcvs/iii/

File Summary:
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 FileName        Explanations
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index.htm        HTML-site
ReadMe           This file
iii.dat          The GCVS4 Catalog
vartype.txt      GCVS Variability Types
ref.txt          References
rem.txt          Remarks
constel.dat      Numerical Codes for Constellations
variable.dat     Numerical Codes for Variable stars
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Note on Component:

designations of components of double/multiple stars: A,B; 1,2,3 ... (tau 1). Usually only one component of the binary is variable, but there exist two cases (CE Cas A,B; EQ Peg A,B) when both components are variable and enter the catalogue as separate lines.

Note on GCVS:

traditional transliterations of greek letters are used. Lower- and upper-case latin letters must be distinguished (e.g. u Her and U Her). See also files variable.dat, constel.dat.

Note on NoteFlag:

see the document by Kholopov et al. (1985-1988).

Note on RAh, RAm, RAs, DE-, DEd, DEm, DEs:

the position is not listed when the variable is equivalent to another catalogued variable ("=" in column Exists, byte 167).

Note on u_DEs:

the real coordinates accuracy uses the symbols:

1. (:) means right ascensions accurate to one second of time and declinations accurate to one tenth of an arcminute;
2. (*) means declinations accurate to one arcminute.
3. (') means right ascensions accurate to one minute of time and declinations accurate to one arcminute.

Note on n_magMax, n_magMin: Code for alternative photometric system.

Field is non-blank if magMin is a magnitude or amplitude given in a system other than that indicated by magCode. An asterisk in the corresponding position means the amplitude measured in white light.

Note on magCode:

the photometric system in which magMin and magMax are reported (see also Note on n_magMax, n_magMin). The main codes are P (photographic magnitudes) and V (visual, photovisual, or Johnson's V). See also the documents by Kholopov et al. (1985-1988) or Warren (1989). Several stars from the 68th Name-List have in these positions "1." designating the 1.04 micrometer band of the system introduced by G.W.Lockwood. The designations u,v,b,y refer to the Stroemgren system. The symbols "Ic" and "Rc" mean magnitudes in Cousins' I system. "g" designates magnitudes in the system of Thuan and Gunn; "T" stands for broad-band Tycho magnitudes formed from B and V measurements; "r" are red magnitudes not tied to a particular system.

Note on Epoch:

Epochs are given for minimum light for all eclipsing and ellipsoidal variables, as well as for RV Tau and RS CVn types, and for maximum for all other types. This rule may occasionally be broken, but this is explained only in the remarks to the catalog, which are not available in machine-readable form at this time. The epochs are Julian dates, with the starting figures 24... omitted; The only exception is WY Sge, where the complete epoch is JD 237249:. The codes ":" are used if the epoch is uncertain.

Note on q_Epoch:

the following codes are used (see also note on Epoch) :
":" are used if the epoch is uncertain;
"+" epoch may be later than that reported;
"-" epoch may be earlier than that reported.

Note on l_Period: the following codes are used:

">" or"<" if period is a lower or upper limit, respectively.
"(": the period is the mean cycle time of a U Gem or recurrent nova (in this case, there is ")" in pos. 108).

Note on n_Period:

the following codes are used: "*N" if the period may be a multiple of the quoted value;
"/N" if the period may be a fraction of the quoted value;
")" - see the note on l_Period.

Note on M-m/D:

this column holds the rising time (M-m) of intrinsic variables, or the duration of the eclipse (D) for eclipsing binaries. These values help to define the shape of the light curve. The value is given in percentage of the period of the star.

Note on u_M-m/D:

the "*" indicates that the duration of the light constancy phase at minimum light (d) for an eclipsing variable is equal to zero.

Note on Ref1, Ref2:

"00001" - if the main characteristics of the star were determined by the authors themselves.
"00002" - "09148" - Vol. I GCVS (see Kholopov et al., 1985-1988).
"09149" - "09558" - Vol. II GCVS
"09559" - "10200" - Vol. III GCVS
"V 001" - "V 554" - Vol. V GCVS (see file evs_ref.dat in v.zip)
"67001" - "73381" - Name-Lists Nos.67-73 (see file ref.dat in nl.zip)
" HIP" - The Special Name-List No.74 for Hipparcos Variables.
If no chart is available for the variable, but the star is contained in one of the Durchmusterung catalogs or the Hubble Space Telescope Guide Star Catalog, the corresponding abbreviation (BD, CPD, CoD, GSC, HIP) is given.

Note on Exists:

"N" in byte 165 if the star does not exist.
"=" in byte 165 appears in three cases.

First, it is used if the variable is equivalent to another cataloged variable. In such case, after the "=" symbol, the alternative name of the variable follows, and all necessary information on the star is to be found under that alternative name.

Second, it is used for all variables of the Name-Lists Nos.67-76, it is followed by the two-digit number of the Name-list and the four-digit number of the star in the Name-list, and the information for the star follows the format of the Name-lists (see above).

Third, the "=" symbol may be followed by the star's name in the GCVS Vol. V (see the file v.zip, where the explanation of the designations is also given). This means that the star enters also Vol. V, and the information of Vol. V makes it possible to improve the data of Vols. I-III. In this case, the symbol "*" in column 178 means the presence of remarks in Vol. V.

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• CDS II/214A : The combined GCVS4.1 (Kholopov+, 1998)

Russian Foundation for Basic Research