The format of the Sixth Orbit Catalog extensively modified in March 2005, in order to
address a couple shortcomings in the original format. First, some users of the catalog
requested that published formal errors for orbital elements be included when available.
Also, new techniques such as long-baseline interferometry have in recent years yielded
orbits with ever shorter periods and smaller semi-major axes. The range in these values
(for example, periods >100,000 years on the one extreme, periods quoted to 0.00000001
years or less at the other) did not fit in the number of characters initially allocated.
Accordingly, the master file was widened considerably to accommodate both formal errors
and higher precisions. Flags have been added to the period and semi-major axis columns,
allowing periods to be quoted in centuries or days as well as years, semi-major axes in
milliarcseconds as well as arcseconds, and T0 in modified Julian date as well as
fractional Besselian year. (Codes for other units, such as periods in hours or semi-major
axes in micro-arcseconds, will be added as needed).
The web catalog now uses two lines per orbit, in order to decrease the width to a
manageable level. Errors are placed immediately below each element, and some catalog names
(such as HD and Hipparcos) and other items are similarly stacked. A blank line follows
each orbit.
The format is as follows:
LINE COLUMN FORMAT DESCRIPTION
1 1 2I2,F5.2, epoch-2000 right ascension (hours, minutes, seconds).
A1,2I2,f4.1 epoch-2000 declination (degrees, minutes, seconds).
2 A10 WDS designation (based on arcminute-accuracy epoch-2000
coordinates).
3 A14 Discover designation and components, or other catalog
designation.
4 I6 HD catalog number.
5 A1,F5.2,A1 Magnitude of the primary (usually V) and flags preceding and
following:
> = fainter than quoted magnitude
< = brighter than quoted magnitude
v = variable magnitude
k = magnitude is in K-band or other infrared band
6 F11.6,A1 Period (P) and code for units:
m = minutes (rarely used)
h = hours (rarely used)
d = days
y = years
c = centuries (rarely used)
7 F9.5,A1 Semi-major axis (a) and code for units:
a = arcseconds
m = milliarcseconds (mas)
8 F8.4 Inclination (i), in degrees.
9 F8.4,A1 Node (Omega), in degrees. An identified ascending node is
indicated by an asterisk following the value.
10 F12.6,A1 The time of periastron passage (T0) and code for units:
d = modified Julian date (JD - 2,400,000 days)
y = fractional Besselian year
11 F8.6 Eccentricity (e).
12 F8.4 Longitude of periastron (omega), in degrees, reckoned from the
node as listed.
13 I4 Equinox, if any, to which the node refers.
14 I1 Orbit grade (to nearest integer), as previously discussed.
15 A1 A link "N" to any notes for this system.
16 A1 A link "P" to a figure illustrating the orbit and all data for
this object currently tabulated in the WDS database. Symbols
used in these figures are as in Figure 1.
17 A1 A link "E" to appropriate entries in the ephemeris file.
18 A8 A code for the reference (usually based on the name of the
first author and the date of publication), with a link to a
reference file.
2 3 'ADS ',I5 ADS (Aitken Double Star catalog) number.
4 I6 Hipparcos catalog number.
5 A1,F5.2,A1 Magnitude of the secondary and flags as noted above for primary
magnitude
6 F11.6 Published formal error in P. Units are the same as for P.
7 F8.5 Error in a. Units are the same as for a.
8 F8.4 Error in i.
9 F8.4 Error in Omega.
10 F12.6 Error in T0. Units are the same as for T0.
11 F8.6 Error in e.
12 F8.4 Error in omega.
13 I4 Date of the last observation used in the orbit calculation, if
published.
3 blank line (separator)
Columns in the ephemeris file are as follows:
COLUMN FORMAT DESCRIPTION
1 A10 WDS designation, as above.
2 A14 Discoverer designation, as above.
3 I1 Orbit grade, as above.
4 A8 Reference code, as above.
5 5(F5.1,F7.3,3X) Predicted values of theta (in degrees) and rho (in arcseconds)
for the years 2005-2009.
6 A20 Text indicating astrometric orbit or pair with incomplete
elements. Obviously no theta or rho values are listed in the
latter case.
Finally, a plain ASCII test version of the catalog is included, with one (long) line of
information for each orbit. The format for this file is as follows:
COLUMN FORMAT DESCRIPTION
1 T1,2I2,F5.2, epoch-2000 right ascension (hours, minutes, seconds).
A1,2I2,f4.1 epoch-2000 declination (degrees, minutes, seconds).
2 T20,A10 WDS designation (based on arcminute-accuracy epoch-2000
coordinates).
3 T31,A14 Discover designation and components, or other catalog
designation.
4 T46,I5 ADS (Aitken Double Star catalog) number.
5 T52,I6 HD catalog number.
6 T59,I6 Hipparcos catalog number.
7 T66,A1,F5.2,A1 Magnitude of the primary (usually V) and flags preceding and
following:
> = fainter than quoted magnitude
< = brighter than quoted magnitude
v = variable magnitude
k = magnitude is in K-band or other infrared band
8 T73,A1,F5.2,A1 Magnitude of the secondary and flags as noted above for primary
magnitude
9 T82,F11.6,A1 Period (P) and code for units:
d = days
y = years
c = centuries (rarely used)
10 T95,F10.6 Published formal error in P. Units are the same as for P.
11 T106,F9.5,A1 Semi-major axis (a) and code for units:
a = arcseconds
m = milliarcseconds (mas)
12 T117,F8.5 Error in a. Units are the same as for a.
13 T126,F8.4 Inclination (i), in degrees.
14 T135,F8.4 Error in i.
15 T144,F8.4,A1 Node (Omega), in degrees. An identified ascending node is
indicated by an asterisk following the value.
16 T154,F8.4 Error in Omega.
17 T163,F12.6,A1 The time of periastron passage (T0) and code for units:
d = modified Julian date (JD - 2,400,000 days)
y = fractional Besselian year
18 T177,F10.6 Error in T0. Units are the same as for T0.
19 T188,F8.6 Eccentricity (e).
20 T197,F8.6 Error in e.
21 T206,F8.4 Longitude of periastron (omega), in degrees, reckoned from the
node as listed.
22 T215,F8.4 Error in omega.
23 T224,I4 Equinox, if any, to which the node refers.
24 T229,I4 Date of the last observation used in the orbit calculation, if
published.
25 T234,I1 Orbit grade (to nearest integer), as previously discussed.
26 T236,A1 A flag "n" to any notes for this system.
27 T238,A8 A code for the reference (usually based on the name of the first
author and the date of publication).
28 T247,A18 Name of image file (png format) illustrating orbit and all
associated measures in the Washington Double Star database.