General Catalogue of Variable Stars: Vols I-III (the new electronic version).
New GCVS Versions for Three Southern Constellations
Peremennye Zvezdy (Variable Stars) 27, No. 6, 2007
N.N Samus, E.N. Pastukhova, O.V. Durlevich
Description of files
Abstract. We are currently working on a version of the General
Catalogue of Variable Stars (GCVS) revised taking into account the
new data accumulated since the 4th GCVS edition. A draft new
version will be released for each constellation as soon as the
work for the constellation is finished. It will contain all stars
of the 4th GCVS edition plus a complete catalogue of the stars
added to the GCVS in the Name Lists of Variable Stars Nos. 67--78.
Now we are ready for the first release, containing more than 1300
variable stars in the constellations of Antlia, Ara, and
Telescopium. When preparing the release, we actively used modern
data-mining possibilities to improve variability types and light
elements. This paper introduces the first release of the new GCVS
version and presents new results (types, light elements), based
mainly on data mining, for 213 stars.
FileName Explanations
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ReadMe This file
GCVS5.txt The GCVS5 Catalog
classif.htm New GCVS5 Variability Types
ref5.txt References
rem5.txt Remarks
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Byte-by-byte Description of file: GCVS5.dat
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Bytes Format Units Label Explanations
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1- 2 I2 --- Constell [1/88]Constellation numeric code
3- 6 I4 --- Number Star number within the constellation
7 A1 --- Component *Component identification
9- 18 A10 --- GCVS *Variable star designation
19 A1 --- NoteFlag *[*] Notes
21- 22 I2 h RAh Hours RA, equinox 2000.0
23- 24 I2 min RAm Minutes RA, equinox 2000.0
25- 28 F4.1 s RAs Seconds RA, equinox 2000.0
29 A1 --- DE- Sign Dec, equinox 2000.0
30- 31 I2 deg DEd Degrees Dec, equinox 2000.0
32- 33 I2 arcmin DEm Minutes Dec, equinox 2000.0
34- 35 I2 arcsec DEs Seconds Dec, equinox 2000.0
36 A1 --- u_DEs *[:] position accuracy flags
38- 47 A10 --- VarType_n New type of variability
49- 59 A10 --- VarType_o Old type of variability
60 A1 --- l_magMax [<>(] ">" if magMax is a faint limit
"<" if magMax is a bright limit
"(" if magMax is an amplitude
61- 66 F6.3 mag magMax Magnitude at maximum brightness
67 A1 --- u_magMax Uncertainty flag (:) on magMax
70 A1 --- l_magMin [<(] "<" if magMin is a bright limit
"(" if magMin is an amplitude
71- 76 F6.3 mag magMin Minimum magnitude or amplitude
77 A1 --- u_magMin Uncertainty flag (:) on magMin
78- 79 A2 --- n_magMin *Alternative photometric system for magMin
80 A1 --- f_magMin [)] ")" if magMin is an amplitude
82 A1 --- l_magMinII [<(] "<" if magMinII is a bright limit
"(" if magMinII is an amplitude
83- 88 F6.3 mag magMinII Minimum II magnitude or amplitude
89 A1 --- u_magMinII Uncertainty flag (:) on magMinII
90- 91 A2 --- n_magMinII *Alternative photometric system for magMinII
92 A1 --- f_magMinII [)] ")" if magMinII is an amplitude
94- 95 A2 --- magCode *The photometric system for magnitudes
97-107 F11.5 d Epoch *Epoch for maximum light, Julian days
108 A1 --- q_Epoch *[:+-] Quality flag on Epoch
110-113 A4 --- YearNova Year of outburst for nova or supernova
114 A1 --- q_Year [:] Quality flag on Year of outburst
116 A1 --- l_Period *[<>(] Code for upper or lower limits
117-132 F16.10 d Period Period of the variable star
133 A1 --- u_Period Uncertainty flag (:) on Period
134-135 A2 --- n_Period *[*/N)]
137-139 A3 % M-m/D *Rising time (M-m) or duration of eclipse (D)
140 A1 --- u_M-m/D Uncertainty flag (:) on M-m/D
141 A1 --- n_M-m/D *[*] Note for eclipsing variable
143-159 A17 --- SpType Spectral type
161-165 A5 --- Ref1 Reference to a study of the star
167-171 A5 --- Ref2 Reference to a chart or photograph
173-184 A12 --- Exists *Cases of non-existence of the variable etc.
186-190 F5.2 --- Exists Duration of the light constancy phase at minimum
light for an eclipsing variable
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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
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 173).
Note on u_DEs :
(:) a flag indicating that the coordinates are actually rougher than
the accuracy standard adopted in the this table
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).
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.
The epochs are Julian dates, with the starting figures 24... omitted;
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. 134).
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 Exists :the following codes are used in column Exists :
"N" in byte 173 if the star does not exist.
"=" in byte 173 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.67-78, 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.
