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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
-----------------------------------------------------------------
ReadMe            This file
GCVS5.txt         The GCVS5 Catalog
classif.htm       New GCVS5 Variability Types
ref5.txt          References
rem5.txt          Remarks
------------------------------------------------------------------------


Byte-by-byte Description of file: GCVS5.dat
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
  Bytes Format Units  Label      Explanations
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
  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
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
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.