File Summary: -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- FileName Lrecl Records Explanations -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- ReadMe 80 . This file flamsteed_f.dat 103 2936 Flamsteed catalog (Flamsteed version) flamsteed_l.dat 103 2935 Flamsteed catalog (Lalande version) flamsteed_dup.dat 37 44 Stars with duplicate entries flamsteed_nex.dat 66 110 Non-existent and other defective entries flamsteed_pos.dat 52 234 Position corrections by Baily flamsteed_ids.dat 24 3019 HR and HD numbers for Flamsteed's stars -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Byte-by-byte Description of files: flamsteed_f.dat flamsteed_l.dat -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Bytes Format Units Label Explanations -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 1- 4 I4 --- FNo [1/2936] Unique star number (1) 6- 8 A3 --- FCon Flamsteed constellation abbreviation 10- 12 I3 --- FNum [1/141]? Flamsteed number (2) 13 A1 --- LFlag [*]? in Lalande, * if any field is marked * (3) 14- 16 A3 --- PCon ?Ptolemy constellation 17 A1 --- PInf [~]? ~ if 'informis' Ptolemy designation 18- 19 I2 --- PNum ?Ptolemy number 21- 23 A3 --- TCon ?Tycho constellation (4) 25- 26 I2 --- TNum ?Tycho number 28- 30 A3 --- HCon ?Hevelius constellation (5) 32- 33 I2 --- HNum ?Hevelius number 35- 37 A3 --- BCon ?Bayer constellation 39- 41 A3 --- BLet ?Bayer letter 43 I1 --- BInd ?Bayer index 44 A1 --- FFlag [:]? : if any field is marked :: (6) 45- 47 I3 deg AR.d ?Right Ascension 1690 (degrees) (7) 49- 50 I2 arcmin AR.m ?Right Ascension 1690 (minutes) 52- 53 I2 arcsec AR.s ?Right Ascension 1690 (seconds) 55- 57 I3 deg DP.d ?Polar Distance 1690 (degrees) (8) 59- 60 I2 arcmin DP.m ?Polar Distance 1690 (minutes) 62- 63 I2 arcsec DP.s ?Polar Distance 1690 (seconds) 65- 66 I2 --- LO.z [0/11]? Longitude Zodiac sign (9) 68- 69 I2 deg LO.d ?Longitude 1690 (degrees) within zodiac sign 71- 72 I2 arcmin LO.m ?Longitude 1690 (minutes) 74- 75 I2 arcsec LO.s ?Longitude 1690 (seconds) 77 A1 --- LA.- [+-]? Latitude sign (10) 78- 79 I2 deg LA.d ?Latitude 1690 (degrees) 81- 82 I2 arcmin LA.m ?Latitude 1690 (minutes) 84- 85 I2 arcsec LA.s ?Latitude 1690 (seconds) 87- 89 I3 arcmin dRA.m ?Varia. Asc. R. (minutes) (11) 90 A1 --- dRA.- [+-]? Varia. Asc. R. (sign) 91- 92 I2 arcsec dRA.s ?Varia. Asc. R. (seconds) 94- 95 I2 arcmin dDP.m ?Varia. D. a P. (minutes) 96 A1 --- dDP.- [+-]? Varia. D. a P. (sign) 97- 98 I2 arcsec dDP.s ?Varia. D. a P. (seconds) 100 A1 --- sMag [*]? * when magnitude is shared (12) 101-103 A3 --- Mag Magnitude or magnitude range -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Note (1): a unique star number from 1 to 2936 added for convenience, consistent between Flamsteed's and Lalande's versions (from which the entry 1894 is missing). Note (2): the Flamsteed number, even though marked optional, is present for all the records, except one: an entirely blank record but for the magnitude between Lyn 34 and Lyn 35 in Flamsteed's version, and absent from Lalande's version (and therefore without a number). Note (3): Lalande marks stars for which he has made a correction or about which there is a doubt by a '*' near the affected field(s). This version just places a '*' at byte 13 in those cases. Note (4): The obsolete constellation Antinous is abbreviated 'Atn'. Note (5): The obsolete constellations Mons Menelaus and Cerberus are abbreviated to 'MoM' and 'Cer' respectively. Note (6): Flamsteed marks dubious stars by :: near the affected field(s). This version just places a ':' at byte 44 in those cases. Note (7): Right ascension is measured in degrees rather than hours. It is missing for the following stars: - 1 star in Aqr (104), - 1 star in Cas (30), - 7 stars in Cam (9, 17, 27, 35, 39, 55, 58), - 2 stars in UMa (75, 78), - 3 stars in UMi (12, 14, 18), - 1 star in Aql (29), - 2 stars in Vul (2, 11), - 5 stars in Cyg (5, 9, 33, 38, 79), - 3 stars in Cep (13, 18, 28), and incomplete (only the degrees part is given) for: - 1 star in CVn (22), - 1 star in Boo (47), - 2 stars in Cyg (24, 68). In the case of 24 Cyg, the degrees part of the right ascension is missing its unit digit and has been omitted entirely from this version in order to avoid carrying an invalid value in this field. Note (8): Polar distance (from the North pole) is used as the second equatorial coordinate instead of declination. It is missing for: - 2 stars in Vul (2, 11), and incomplete (seconds are missing) for: - 1 star in Cep (19). Vul 2 and Vul 11 are marked as being borrowed from Hevelius, and their ecliptic coordinates are present. Note (9): The degrees part of the ecliptic longitude is expressed by two components: the zodiac sign (an integer from 0 to 11), and the offset in degrees (in the range [0, 30[) within the zodiac sign. Flamsteed uses traditional symbols for the zodiac signs. For convenience, Lalande uses integers instead (0 for Aries, 1 for Taurus, etc.). The degrees part of the ecliptic longitude is therefore 30 * Lo.z + Lo.d. Flamsteed and Lalande often omit the zodiac sign when it is inherited from the previous record. This version restores the missing values in order to ensure that every record is self-contained. Note (10): Flamsteed and Lalande represent the sign of the ecliptic latitude by the letter B (Borealis, or North) or A (Australis, or South), translated to '+' and '-' in this version. Flamsteed and Lalande often omit the latitude sign when it is inherited from the previous record. This version restores the missing values in order to ensure that every record in self-contained. Note (11): The catalog specifies the variation in right ascension and polar distance of the star when the ecliptic longitude increases by 1 degree. As the ecliptic longitude increases over time due to the precession of the equinoxes, these fields make it possible to compute updated equatorial coordinates. Note (12): The magnitude value is sometimes shared by two consecutive stars. A '*' character marks the magnitude field of such stars. This happens only in three cases: 36-37 Her, 54-55 Her, and 7-8 Aql. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Byte-by-byte Description of file: flamsteed_dup.dat -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Bytes Format Units Label Explanations -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 1- 4 I4 --- FNo [1/2936] Sequence number of first star 6- 8 A3 --- FCon Constellation abbreviation of first star 10- 12 I3 --- FNum [1/141] Flamsteed number of first star 14 A1 --- Flag [=*] Flag (1) 16- 19 I4 --- FNo_ [1/2936] Sequence number of second star 21- 23 A3 --- FCon_ Constellation abbreviation of second star 25- 27 I3 --- FNum_ [1/141] Flamsteed number of second star 29- 33 F5.2 arcmin Dist ?Distance between the stars (2) 35- 37 A3 --- Con Actual constellation of the pair (3) -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Note (1): An equal sign for most entries. A * here marks the entries involving 58 Cam, to which no right ascension is assigned in Flamsteed's catalog. Baily, in "An account of the Reverend John Flamsteed", London, 1835 (Note 1151, p. 557), asserts without much explanation that this star is the same as 30 Lyn. Note (2): Distance in arcminutes between the members of the duplicate pair, based on Flamsteed's equatorial coordinates. Note (3): The actual constellation of the pair, according to Flamsteed's equatorial position. This field is present only on the entry where FCon matches Con. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Byte-by-byte Description of file: flamsteed_nex.dat -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Bytes Format Units Label Explanations -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 1- 4 I4 --- BNum ?Star number in Baily's corrected catalog (1) 6- 8 A3 --- FCon Flamsteed constellation abbreviation 10- 12 I3 --- FNum [1/141] Flamsteed number 14- 18 A5 --- Srcs [WBCDE.] sources for this entry (2) 20 A1 --- NoEx [*]? non-existent flag (3) 22- 66 A45 --- Text Free-form description of the issue (4) -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Note (1): this is the number of the star in Baily's revised British Catalogue and its Notes, if any, where explanations about this star are to be found. It is not necessarily the number of the star itself, which may not be part of the revised catalogue. Note (2): the letters WBCDE have the following meanings: W - this star has an entry in the second part of Morton Wagman's book "Lost Stars" (McDonald & Woodward Publishing Company, Blacksburg, VA, 2003), B - this star has an entry in Baily's Table B, p. 645 (Stars not existing: being errors of computation), C - this star has an entry in Baily's Table C, p. 646 (Stars observed, but not existing), D - this star has an entry in Baily's Table D, p. 646 (Stars not observed, nor existing), E - this star has an entry in Baily's Table E, p. 646 (Stars having no Right Ascension). The . is just a placeholder. Note (3): a * here indicates a verdict of non-existence for the star. In most cases, the star is present in one of Baily's Tables B, C, D but there are a few cases discussed in Wagman where Baily is not categorical. Note (4): brief description of the issue, generally extracted from Baily's Notes (starting p. 506). Here, "observation error" means that the initial value of the observation was wrong, and "error from observation" means that a computation or transcription error took place during the processing of a valid observation. Designations of the form ., such as XIX.38 refer to Piazzi's catalog. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Byte-by-byte Description of file: flamsteed_pos.dat -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Bytes Format Units Label Explanations -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 1- 4 A4 --- BNum Star number in Baily's corrected catalog (1) 5 A1 --- wNum [*]? Warning about this entry (2) 6- 8 A3 --- FCo Flamsteed constellation abbreviation 10- 12 I3 --- FNo [1/141] Flamsteed number 14 A1 --- dRA.- [+-]? Right Ascension increment (sign) 15- 16 I2 deg dRA.d ?Right Ascension increment (degrees) 18- 19 I2 arcmin dRA.m ?Right Ascension increment (minutes) 21- 22 I2 arcsec dRA.s ?Right Ascension increment (seconds) 24 A1 --- dDE.- [+-]? Declination increment (sign) 25- 26 I2 deg dDE.d ?Declination increment (degrees) 28- 29 I2 arcmin dDE.m ?Declination increment (minutes) 31- 32 I2 arcsec dDE.s ?Declination increment (seconds) 34- 36 I3 deg RA.d ?Assigned Right Ascension 1690 (degrees) 38- 39 I2 arcmin RA.m ?Assigned Right Ascension 1690 (minutes) (3) 41- 42 I2 arcsec RA.s ?Assigned Right Ascension 1690 (seconds) (3) 44 A1 --- DE.- [+-]? Assigned Declination 1690 (sign) 45- 46 I2 deg DE.d ?Assigned Declination 1690 (degrees) 48- 49 I2 arcmin DE.m ?Assigned Declination 1690 (minutes) 51- 52 I2 arcsec DE.s ?Assigned Declination 1690 (seconds) (3) -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Note (1): this is the number of the star in Baily's revised British Catalogue and its Notes where explanations about this star are to be found. It is not necessarily the number of the star itself, which may not be part of the revised catalogue. Note (2): a * here indicates an error or omission in Baily's corrections. The file gives the missing or corrected value. The specific cases are the following. - 756 Cam 27: the right ascension is missing in Flamsteed's catalog, and Baily gives 80 -- -- in the revised catalog, but doesn't mention it in Table F (the star is present in Table F for a correction in declination). - 902 CMa 3: Baily gives -02 30 00 instead of -00 02 30 for the right ascension increment. The Notes mention the correct value. - 1151 Cam 58: the right ascension is missing in Flamsteed's catalog. Baily assigns it the right ascension of Lyn 30, since he considers them the same stars, but doesn't mention it in Table F. - 1779 Com 33: there is an obvious typo in Flamsteed's catalog (at least the edition I've used), giving a polar distance of 11 instead of 71 degrees to this star. Baily gives the correct value but doesn't mention this star in Table F. - 2473 Sgr 12: Baily gives -01 30 00 instead of -00 01 30 for the right ascension increment. The Notes mention the correct value. Note (3): seconds and even minutes may be omitted even when degrees are specified. When this happens, Baily writes -- in their place. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Byte-by-byte Description of file: flamsteed_ids.dat -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Bytes Format Units Label Explanations -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 1- 4 I4 --- FNo [1/2936]? Unique star number (1) 6- 8 A3 --- FCon ?Flamsteed constellation abbreviation (1) 10- 12 I3 --- FNum [1/141]? Flamsteed number (1) 13 A1 --- NoId [*]? Unidentified entry flag (2) 14- 17 I4 --- HR [1/9110]? HR number 19- 24 I6 --- HD [1/272150]? HD number -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Note (1): these fields are empty on lines containing additional matches for the current star. Note (2): a '*' here indicates that this catalog entry has no identification, has not been associated with an existing star. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- History: * 2020-07-05: new revised edition. ================================================================================