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I/172       International Reference Stars  (IRS)    (Corbin 1991)
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International Reference Stars (IRS)
     Corbin T.E., Warren Jr. W.H.
    <NASA, NSSDC 91-11 (1991)>
================================================================================
ADC_Keywords: Positional data ; Proper motions

Description:
    The IRS is an all-sky catalog of positions and proper motions that is
    based on the AGK3R (Corbin 1977, 1978) in the Northern Hemisphere and
    on the newly completed SRS (Smith et al. 1990) in the south. The data
    for the 36027 stars of the IRS were compiled in B1950.0 FK4 and then
    transformed to J2000.0 FK5.

    The IRS was compiled by matching 122 meridian circle catalogs with the
    AGK3R and SRS to provide the data base. Catalogs whose stars had been
    observed using screens to minimize the magnitude equation and that
    contained FK4 (Fricke and Kopff 1963) stars were used to form a
    preliminary system. These catalogs were reduced to the FK4 by direct
    comparison; the resulting positions and proper motions were then used
    to reduce all of the other catalogs. Thus, the IRS is a differential
    catalog compiled from 164,917 positions reduced to the FK4 system.

    The IRS is divided into two parts. Part 1 contains the stars having
    better observational histories and, therefore, more reliable positions
    and proper motions. This part constitutes 81 percent of the catalog;
    mean errors of the proper motions are 0.43 and 0.44 seconds of
    arc/century (4.3 and 4.4 mas/yr) in right ascension and declination,
    respectively. The stars in Part 2 have poor observational histories
    and consist mostly of objects for which only two catalog positions in
    one or both coordinates were available when the proper motions were
    computed. Where accuracy is the primary consideration, it is best to
    use only the stars in Part 1, while if the highest possible density is
    desired, the two parts should be combined, as they are systematically
    the same.

    The data included are catalog part, IRS number, equatorial coordinates
    (equinox, equator, epoch B1950.0 and J2000.0), centennial proper
    motions (B1950.0 and J2000.0), original epochs, weights for right
    ascension and declination, and reference data such as DM numbers (BD,
    CD, CPD), AGK3 and CPC2 designations, and an IAU-recommended IRS
    identifier (based on coordinates).

File Summary:
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
 FileName    Lrecl    Records    Explanations
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
ReadMe          80          .    This file
irs.doc         80        420    ascii documentation
irs.tex         80        416    LaTeX documentation
adc.sty         78         68    Style file to process irs.tex
irs1.dat       192      29163    Part 1: more reliable positions and
                                         proper motions
irs2.dat       192       6864    Part 2: stars with poor observational history
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

See also:
    I/15  : FK4 Catalogue (Fricke and Kopff, 1963)
    I/72  : AGK3R Catalogue (Corbin, 1978)
    I/85  : CPC2 (2nd Cape Photographic Catalogue 1950, Nicholson et al., 1984)
    I/138 : SRS (Southern Reference Star catalogue, Smith, 1988)
    I/149 : FK5 Catalogue (Fricke et al., 1988, Veroff. ARI 32)
  For a high density of stars with accurate positions and proper motions
  on FK5 system, see also the catalogues:
    I/146 : PPM-North (Roeser and Bastian, 1988)
    I/193 : PPM-South (Bastian and Roeser, 1993)

Byte-by-byte Description of file: irs1.dat, irs2.dat
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
   Bytes Format  Units     Label       Explanations
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
       1  I1     ---       PartNum     [1,2] Catalog Part number, '1' or '2'
   2-  7  I6     ---       IRS        *[1/76865]+ IRS sequential number
   9- 10  I2     h         RAh         Hours RA, equinox=B1950, Epoch=B1950.0
  11- 12  I2     min       RAm         Minutes RA, equinox, epoch B1950.0
  13- 17  I5     ms        RAms        Seconds RA, equinox, epoch B1950.0
      18  A1     ---       DE-         Sign Dec, equinox, epoch B1950.0
  19- 20  I2     deg       DEd         Degrees Dec, equinox, epoch B1950.0
  21- 22  I2     arcmin    DEm         Minutes Dec, equinox, epoch B1950.0
  23- 26  I4     10mas     DEcs        Seconds Dec, equinox, epoch B1950.0
  27- 29  I3     ms        e_RAms      ?Mean error in RA at original epoch
  30- 32  I3     10mas     e_DEcs      ?Mean error in Dec at original epoch
  33- 38  I6     0.01ms/yr pmRA        RA proper motion, FK4 system
  39- 45  I7     0.1mas/yr pmDE        DE proper motion, FK4 system
  46- 49  I4     0.01ms/yr e_pmRA      ?Mean error on pmRA
  51- 53  I3     0.1mas/yr e_pmDE      ?Mean error on pmDE
  54- 60  I7     0.001yr   EpRA        Original epoch of RA 
                                         (epoch of mean position)
  61- 67  I7     0.001yr   EpDE        Original epoch of DE 
                                         (epoch of mean position)
  68- 70  I3     ---       o_RAms      Number of positions in RA
  71- 73  I3     ---       o_DEcs      Number of positions in DE
  74- 77  I4     0.1       w_RAms      Sum of the weights in RA
  78- 81  I4     0.1       w_DEcs      Sum of the weights in DE
  82- 86  I5     0.01mag   Pmag        [520/1000] Photographic magnitude
  87- 89  A3     ---       SpType      Spectral type
  90- 97  A8     ---       BD          Bonner Durchmusterung number <I/122>
  98-105  A8     ---       CD          Cordoba Durchmusterung number <I/114>
 106-113  A8     ---       CP          Cape Photographic Durchmusterung <I/108>
 114-120  A7     ---       AGK3        AGK3 number <I/61>
 121-126  A6     ---       CPC2        Second Cape Photograpic Catalog <I/85>
 127-150  A24    ---       IRSJ       *IRS number, IRS Jhhmmss.ssSddmmss.s
 151-152  I2     h         RA2000h    *Hours RA, Equinox=J2000, Epoch=J2000
 153-154  I2     min       RA2000m    *Minutes RA, equinox, epoch J2000.0
 155-159  I5     ms        RA2000ms   *Seconds RA, equinox, epoch J2000.0
 160-165  I6     0.01ms/yr pmRA2000    Centennial RA proper motion, J2000.0
 166-171  I6     0.001yr   EpRA-J2000  Original epoch - J2000.0 in RA
     172  A1     ---       DE2000-     Sign Dec, equinox, epoch J2000.0
 173-174  I2     deg       DE2000d    *Degrees Dec, equinox, epoch J2000.0
 175-176  I2     arcmin    DE2000m    *Minutes Dec, equinox, epoch J2000.0
 177-180  I4     10mas     DE2000cs   *Seconds Dec, equinox, epoch J2000.0
 181-186  I6     0.1mas/yr pmDE2000    Centennial Dec proper motion, J2000.0
 187-192  I6     0.001yr   EpDE-J2000  Original epoch - J2000.0 in DE
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Note on IRS:
    This number is between 1 and 29163 for the first part,
    between 70001 and 76865 for Part 2.
Note on RA2000h, RA2000m, RA2000ms, DE2000d, DE2000m, DE2000cs:
    The J2000 positions are given for equinox and epoch J2000.0 on the
    system of FK5 after transformation of the B1950.0 values. The
    transformation was done using the coefficients and software package of
    Schwan (see Schwan 1988) and the algorithm given in the 1991
    Astronomical Almanac (page B42) (foreshortening terms set to zero).
    (See Section 3.1 of the documentation for additional details.)
Note on IRSJ:
    This identifier is based upon the recommended IAU nomenclature (see
    PASP, 102, 1444, 1990). The field consists of an origin in bytes
    127-130 (IRS) and a coordinate specification in bytes 132-150 (byte
    132 contains a "J" to indicate that the following coordinates are in
    the Julian reference system and are for the year 2000.0, the standard
    equinox designated for Julian system coordinates). Bytes 127 and 131
    are blank for this catalog.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

References:
  Corbin, T.E. 1977, The Proper-Motion System of the AGK3R (Ann Arbor,
    University Microfilms, Inc.)
  Corbin, T.E. 1978, in IAU Colloquium 48, Modern Astrometry, ed. F.V.
    Prochazka and R.H. Tucker (Vienna, University Obs.), p. 505
    (Catalog <I/72>)
  Fricke, W., and Kopff, A. 1963, "Fourth Fundamental Katalog (FK4)", Veroeff.
    Astron. Rechen-Inst. Heidelb. No. 10
    (Catalog <I/15>)
  Schwan, H., =1988A&A...198..363S
  Smith, C.A., Corbin, T.E., Hughes, J.A., Jackson, E.S., Krutskaya, E.V.,
    Polozhentsev, A.D., Polozhentsev, D.D., Yagudin, L.I., and Zverev, M.S.
    1990, in IAU Symposium No. 141, Inertial Coordinate System on the Sky,
    ed. J.H. Lieske and V.K. Abalakin (Dordrecht, Reidel), p.457
    (Catalog <I/138>)

Historical Notes:
  * 16-Apr-1991: the completed machine-readable IRS was transferred to
    the Astronomical Data Center (NASA/Goddard)
  * Catalogue distributed on the "Selected Astronomical Catalogs" Vol. 1
    CD-ROM (1991), directory    /astrom/irs
  * 29-Nov-1995: ReadMe file standardized at CDS
================================================================================
(End)      Gail L. Schneider [SSDOO/ADC], Francois Ochsenbein [CDS]  29-Nov-1995

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