VI/49 Constellation Boundary Data (Davenhall+ 1989)
Catalogue of Constellation Boundary Data
Davenhall A.C., Leggett S.K.
<Royal Obs. Edinburgh (1989)>
=1997yCat.6049....0D 1997yCat.6049....0D
ADC_Keywords: Constellations
Description:
A computer readable catalog of constellation boundary data is
presented in a form suitable for the construction of star charts and
atlases. Two data files are available, one for equator and equinox
1875 and the other for equator and equinox 2000. In addition to the
data files a documentation file is available that includes a table
listing the abbreviations used for the constellations as well as a
more detailed discussion of the preparation of the catalog.
The present catalog of constellation boundary data is complementary to
that of Roman (1987). Roman's catalog should be used to determine in
which constellation an object lies in. The present catalog is more
suited to the construction of star charts and atlases. Both catalogs
were based on Delporte (1930).
File Summary:
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FileName Lrecl Records Explanations
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ReadMe 80 . This file
constell.txt 84 260 Plain text document describing the original files
constell.tex 86 299 LaTeX document describing the original files
adc.sty 78 68 adc style file
bound_18.dat 25 1565 Boundaries for B1875 (original file)
bound_20.dat 30 12948 Boundaries for J2000 (updated version)
constbnd.dat 28 1651 *Boundaries for B1875 with adjacent constellations
constbnd.txt 75 174 *Detailed explanations of file "constbnd.dat"
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Note on constbnd.dat, constbnd.txt: prepared in 2007 by Bill J. Gray
(Project Pluto, Bowdoinham Maine, USA).
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See also:
VI/42 : Identification of a Constellation From Position (Roman 1987)
http://www.iau.org/public/constellations/ : IAU page about constellations
(International Astronomical Union)
Byte-by-byte Description of file: bound_18.dat
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Bytes Format Units Label Explanations
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1- 8 F8.5 h RAhr [0/24]? Right ascension in decimal hours (B1875)
10- 18 F9.5 deg DEdeg [-90/88]? Declination in degrees (1875)
20- 23 A4 --- cst Constellation abbreviation
25 A1 --- type [O] Type of point (O = original)
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Byte-by-byte Description of file: bound_20.dat
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Bytes Format Units Label Explanations
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1- 11 F11.7 deg RAdeg [0/360] Right ascension in degrees (J2000)
13- 23 F11.7 deg DEdeg [-86/89] Declination in degrees (J2000)
25- 28 A4 --- cst Constellation abbreviation
30 A1 --- type [OI] Type of point (Original or Interpolated)
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Byte-by-byte Description of file: constbnd.dat
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Bytes Format Units Label Explanations
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1- 8 F8.5 h RAhr [0/24]? Right ascension in decimal hours (B1875)
10- 18 F9.5 deg DEdeg [-85/88]? Declination in degrees (1875)
20- 23 A4 --- cst Constellation abbreviation (1)
25- 28 A4 --- adj Adjacent constellation abbreviation (1)
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Note (1): The origin point of a constellation has a blank "adj" name, and
the successive boundary lines follow in a counter-clockwise order.
See the detailed explanations in the "constbnd.txt" file.
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Acknowledgements:
The authors of the catalog are grateful to Mr. D.A. Pickup for useful
discussions about the format of Delporte's lists and the effect of
precession on the shape of the constellation boundaries and to Dr.
W.H. Warren Jr. for several useful suggestions. This work was carried
out as part of a contract with the Edinburgh publishers John
Bartholomew and Son Ltd. to provide data for a revised edition of
`Norton's Star Atlas'.
References:
Delporte, E. 1930, Delimitation Scientifique des Constellations
(Cambridge: Cambridge University Press).
Roman, N.G. 1987, Publ. Astron. Soc. Pac. 99, pp695-699.
History:
* 27-May-1997: documentation of the catalog by N.G. Roman (ADC)
* 07-Apr-2009: one of the boundaries for Oph fixed.
Files "constbnd.dat" and "constbnd.txt", prepared
by Bill J. Gray, were added.
* 14-Jun-2013: Removed the spurious point in Cepheus at (1h+88deg)
* 22-Aug-2019: J2000 boundaries for UMI and OCT fixed
(for OCT, previously 758 points and now 376 points)
* 23-Jul-2024: J2000 boundaries for CEP and UMI fixed.
(End) N. G. Roman [SSDOO/ADC] 27-May-1997