USNO-B1.0 (Cat. I/284) and 2MASS (Cat. II/246) are the most widely used full-sky surveys. However, 2MASS has no proper motions at all, and USNO-B1.0 published only relative, not absolute (i.e. on ICRS) proper motions. We performed a new determination of mean positions and proper motions on the ICRS system by combining USNO-B1.0 and 2MASS astrometry. This catalog is called PPMXL, and it aims to be complete from the brightest stars down to about V=20 full-sky. PPMXL contains about 900 million objects, some 410 million with 2MASS photometry, and is the largest collection of ICRS proper motions at present. As representative for the ICRS we chose PPMX. The recently released UCAC3 (Cat. I/315) could not be used because we found plate-dependent distortions in its proper motion system north of -20{deg} declination. UCAC3 served as an intermediate system for {demta}<-20{deg}. The resulting typical individual mean errors of the proper motions range from 4mas/yr to more than 10mas/yr depending on observational history. The mean errors of positions at epoch 2000.0 are 80 to 120 mas, if 2MASS astrometry could be used, 150 to 300 mas else. We also give correction tables to convert USNO-B1.0 observations of e.g. minor planets to the ICRS system.
PPMXL is a catalog of positions, proper motions, 2MASS- and optical
photometry of 900 million stars and galaxies, aiming to be complete
down to about V=20 full-sky. It is the result
of a re-reduction of USNO-B1 together with 2MASS to the ICRS as
represented by PPMX. This service additionally provides improved proper
motions computed according to Vickers et al, 2016
(:bibcode:`2016AJ....151...99V`).
We investigate the orbital motion of the Quintuplet cluster near the Galactic center with the aim of constraining formation scenarios of young, massive star clusters in nuclear environments. Three epochs of adaptive optics high-angular resolution imaging with the Keck/NIRC2 and Very Large Telescope/NAOS-CONICA systems were obtained over a time baseline of 5.8 yr, delivering an astrometric accuracy of 0.5-1 mas/yr. Proper motions were derived in the cluster reference frame and were used to distinguish cluster members from the majority of the dense field star population toward the inner bulge. Fitting the cluster and field proper motion distributions with two-dimensional (2D) Gaussian models, we derive the orbital motion of the cluster for the first time. The Quintuplet is moving with a 2D velocity of 132+/-15 km/s with respect to the field along the Galactic plane, which yields a three-dimensional orbital velocity of 167+/-15 km/s when combined with the previously known radial velocity. From a sample of 119 stars measured in three epochs, we derive an upper limit to the velocity dispersion of {sigma}_1D_< 10 km/s in the core of the Quintuplet cluster. Knowledge of the three velocity components of the Quintuplet allows us to model the cluster orbit in the potential of the inner Galaxy. Under the assumption that the Quintuplet is located in the central 200 pc at the present time, these simulations exclude the possibility that the cluster is moving on a circular orbit. Comparing the Quintuplet's orbit with our earlier measurements of the Arches' orbit, we discuss the possibility that both clusters originated in the same area of the central molecular zone (CMZ). According to the model of Binney et al., two families of stable cloud orbits are located along the major and minor axes of the Galactic bar, named x1 and x2 orbits, respectively. The formation locus of these clusters is consistent with the outermost x2 orbit and might hint at cloud collisions at the transition region between the x1 and x2 orbital families located at the tip of the minor axis of the Galactic bar. The formation of young, massive star clusters in circumnuclear rings is discussed in the framework of the channeling in of dense gas by the bar potential. We conclude that the existence of a large-scale bar plays a major role in supporting ongoing star and cluster formation, not only in nearby spiral galaxies with circumnuclear rings, but also in the Milky Way's CMZ.
In anticipation of the possible collision between a circumstellar disk and the secondary star in the highly eccentric binary system {delta} Scorpii, high angular resolution interferometric observations have been acquired, aimed at revising the binary parameters. The Navy Prototype Optical Interferometer was used to spatially resolve the binary components in 2000 and over a period between 2005 and 2010. The interferometric observations are used to obtain the angular separations and orientations of the two stellar components at all epochs for which data have been obtained, including 2005 and 2006, for which, based on previous studies, there was some uncertainty as to if the signature of binarity can be clearly detected. The results of this study represent the most complete and accurate coverage of the binary orbit of this system to date and allow for the revised timing of the upcoming periastron passage that will occur in 2011 to be obtained.
Parts I and III of the sixth fundamental catalog, a catalog of
high-precision astrometry for bright stars combining centuries of
ground-based observations as reflected in FK5 with HIPPARCOS
astrometry.
The result contains, in particular for the proper motions,
statistically significant improvements of the Hipparcos data und
represents a system of unprecedented accuracy for these 4150
fundamental stars. The typical mean error in pm is 0.35 mas/year for
878 basic stars, and 0.59 mas/year for the sample of the 3272
additional stars.
Parts I and III of the sixth fundamental catalog, a catalog of
high-precision astrometry for bright stars combining centuries of
ground-based observations as reflected in FK5 with HIPPARCOS
astrometry.
The result contains, in particular for the proper motions,
statistically significant improvements of the Hipparcos data und
represents a system of unprecedented accuracy for these 4150
fundamental stars. The typical mean error in pm is 0.35 mas/year for
878 basic stars, and 0.59 mas/year for the sample of the 3272
additional stars.
We use 20yr of astrometric data from the REsearch Consortium On Nearby Stars (RECONS) program on the Cerro Tololo Inter-American Observatory/SMARTS 0.9m telescope to provide new insight into multiple star systems in the solar neighborhood. We provide new and updated parallaxes for 210 systems and derive nine high-quality astrometric orbits with periods of 2.49-16.63yr. Using a total of 542 systems parallaxes from RECONS, we compare systems within 25pc to Gaia DR2 to define criteria for selecting unresolved astrometric multiples from the DR2 results. We find that three out of four unresolved multistar red dwarf systems within 25pc in DR2 have parallax_error >=0.32mas, astrometric_gof_al>=56, astrometric_excess-noise_sig>=108.0, ruwe>=2.0, and parallaxes more than ~10% different from the long-term RECONS results. These criteria have broad applications to any work targeting nearby stars, from studies seeking binary systems to efforts targeting single stars for planet searches.
The Southern Serendipitous High-redshift Archival Cluster (SHARC) catalogue is a X-ray selected catalogue of galaxy clusters detected in deep ROSAT observations. The survey area is 17.7deg^2^ and is selected from long (greater than 10ks) ROSAT exposures with a declination <+20deg and excluding the Galactic plane (excluding galactic latitudes within the range [-20,20]deg). Optical follow-up was performed to confirm the presence of a galaxy cluster and measure its redshift. The final catalogue contains 32 galaxy clusters with redshifts between 0.05 and 0.70 and X-ray luminosities between 7x10^35^W and 4x10^37^W. Above a redshift of 0.3 - which forms the primary subsample of the survey - there are 16 clusters; the X-ray luminosities of these clusters are all greater than 2x10^36 W. All X-ray luminosities are quoted in the 0.5-2.0keV band and were calculated using an Einstein-de Sitter cosmology with H_0_ set to 50km/s/Mpc.
We analyse a manuscript star catalogue by Wilhem IV, Landgraf von Hessen-Kassel from 1586. From measurements of altitudes and of angles between stars, given in the catalogue, we find that the measurement accuracy averages 26 arcsec for eight fundamental stars, compared to 49 arcsec of the measurements by Brahe. The computation in converting altitudes to declinations and angles between stars to celestial position is very accurate, with errors negligible with respect to the measurement errors. Due to an offset in the position of the vernal equinox the positional error of the catalogue is slightly worse than that of Brahe's catalogue, but when correction is made for the offset -- which was known to 17th century astronomers -- the catalogue is more accurate than that of Brahe. We provide machine-readable Tables of the catalogue.
Since its appearance in 1966, the SAO Catalogue (SAO, 1966) has been the primary source for stellar positions and proper motions. Typical values for the rms errors are 1 arcsec in the positions at epoch 1990, and 1.5 arcsec/century in the proper motions. The corresponding figures for the AGK3 (Heckmann et al., 1975) on the northern hemisphere are 0.45 arcsec and 0.9 arcsec/century. Common to both catalogues is the fact that proper motions area derived from two observational epochs only. Both catalogues are nominally on the B1950/FK4 coordinate system. The PPM Star Catalogue (Roeser and Bastian, 1991, Bastian et al., 1993; for a short description see Roeser and Bastian, 1993) effectively replaced these catalogues by providing more precise astrometric data for more stars on the J2000/FK5 coordinate system. Compared to the SAO Catalogue the improvement in precision is about a factor of 3 on the northern and a factor of 6 to 10 on the southern hemisphere. In addition, the number of stars is increased by about 50 percent. Typical values for the rms errors on the northern hemisphere are 0.27 arcsec in the positions at epoch 1990, and 0.42 arcsec/century in the proper motions. On the southern hemisphere PPM is much better, the corresponding figures being 0.11 arcsec and 0.30 arcsec/century. The improvement over the SAO Catalogue was made possible by the advent of new big catalogues of position measurements and by the inclusion of the century-old Astrographic Catalogue (AC) into the derivation of proper motions (for a description of AC see Eichhorn, 1974). But even PPM does not fully exploit the treasure of photographic position measurements available in the astronomical literature of the last 100 years. The Astrographic Catalogue contains roughly four million stars that are not included in PPM. For most of them no precise modern-epoch position measurements exist. Thus it is not yet possible to derive proper motions with PPM quality for all AC stars. But among the 4 million there is a subset of some 100,000 CPC-2 stars that are not included in PPM. These stars constitute the 90,000 Stars Supplement to PPM. See file "desc.txt" for complete explanations provided by the authors.