CHARM2

A Catalogue of High

Angular Resolution

Measurements

 

 

September 2004

 

 

 

 

 

 

Release 3.0

September 2, 2004

 

 

A. Richichi

I. Percheron

 

 

European Southern Observatory

 

 

 

 

 



Changes record

 

Version

Date

Changes

Evaluation

September 13, 2000

All

Release 1.0

March 19, 2001

Column "Angular Distance"

Column "Visibility"

Release 2.0

November 8, 2001

Added Functionalities, corrections. Change of title and references, to complement the paper submitted to A&A

2.1

November 21, 2001

Added Kc, notes, est diam.

2.2

November 30, 2001

Added description of Geo

2.3

February 19, 2002

Debugging, public release

3.0

September 2, 2004

Changes for CHARM2

 



Introduction.

 

This document describes the contents of CHARM2 Catalogue (previously known as the ESO VLTI Main Catalogue) and the structure of the related files. It is available in electronic format, and it has links or references to the following documents:

 

 

main.doc

This document

CHARM2.xls

The CHARM2 Table, full format

publicat.doc

List of publications

maint.doc

Archive update instructions (internal use only)

 

 

The CHARM2 Catalogue is an Excel spreadsheet with links to the documents above, as well as to the actual Data Archive. The Data Archive and some link functionalities might not be fully available for general distribution.

 

The CHARM2 Catalogue CHARM2.xls includes several worksheets. They are briefly described below, and a full explanation is provided separately in the remainder of this document.

 

 

Table

Main Catalogue Table

Stats

Statistical summary, magnitude histograms, etc

AD Map

Sky distribution of the sources

Update

Directory root names (internal use only)

Coords

Format for Catalog updates

TCS Catalog

Format for TCS Catalog updates

Geo

Geometry, baselines, visibility, plots

Hidden sheets

Used for internal computations

 


 

 

Part I: Main Table

 

PartII

Top

 

 

N.                    Sequential order in the table. This is a free index, which is updated when the table is sorted or regenerated. See also: Ser.

 

Ser.                  Serial order in the table. This is an index fixed at the time of release. See also: N.

 

Source             Link to the directory which contains the source data. The name is chosen arbitrarily, although care has been taken to use the designation of the original paper from which the source was extracted (lowercase, stripped of +/– and special symbols). Clicking on the link will open the directory. See also: Cross-Identifications, Update.

 

V                     Flag: "Y" means that the source has been observed by the VLTI and the data are public.

 

Type                A short abbreviation to identify the type of the source. The types introduced with the first release of the catalogue are given in Table 1, but additional codes may be introduced since this is an arbitrary field.

 

Table 1. Codes for the source types.

Code

Source measurement in the corresponding reference

UR

Unresolved (upper limit may be given)

Diam

Stellar diameter resolved

Bin

Binary or multiple star

Com

Complex source. Examples: shell, binary + diameter, etc.

Cal

Calibrator

 

 

Cross-Identifications     A multi-column field (4 fields in the first release, but the actual number in the next versions may change). The choice of identifications is arbitrary, but as a rule of thumb 1-2 are from visual catalogues (usually SAO and HD when available), and 1-2 are from IR surveys (usually IRC and IRAS when available). In case of a bright or famous object, HR numbers or Flamsteed names may be used.

 

Method                        A code to identify the method of observation used for the determination reported in the table. The codes are listed in Table 2.

 

Table 2. Codes for the Observation Methods

Code

Method of Observation

Note

LO

Lunar Occultation

 

LBI

Long-Baseline Interferometry

 

SPE

Speckle Interferometry (all methods)

Dismissed with CHARM2

Radio

Radio Measurements (incl. mm, sub-mm)

Dismissed with CHARM2

EST

Estimated diameter

 

AM

Aperture Masking

Dismissed with CHARM2

FGS

HST Fine Guidance Sensors

Dismissed with CHARM2

IND

Indirect Methods (Spectrophotometry)

 

 

 

Lambda                        Wavelength of observation, if given in the paper. This is listed in different ways, depending on the type of measurement:

-         one or two numbers, in which case it means l (and Dl) in mm;

-         a filter type. The usual standard photometric names apply (for instance: V, K, N)

-         a symbol, for special or narrow filters. Examples can be: CVF (Circular Variable Filter, i.e. a narrow bandwidth filter used in the near-IR), Ha, Brg.

-         "mult" indicates that the observations has been carried out at multiple wavelengths simultaneously.

 

 

UD Diameter                Uniform disk angular diameter, if available, as reported in the paper. This entry has 3 columns, where the values are all expressed in milliarcseconds (mas). These are the angular diameter, its error, and an upper limit estimate, respectively. The entries for the angular diameter and the upper limit should be mutually exclusive, and the error is not always given. See also LD Diameter, Visibility.

 

LD Diameter                Limb-darkened angular diameter, if available, as reported in the paper. This entry has two columns, which list the angular diameter and its error in units of mas. See also: UD Diameter.

 

Shell                             Marks the presence of a circumstellar shell, either as a flag "Y", or with a characteristic size in mas.

 

Binary                          In case the source is a binary or multiple star, the following entries are listed:

 

sep:      separation in mas, as reported in the reference. For LO measurements, this is often only the projected separation along the occultation PA (see below). In case of multiplicity (triple and higher), only one entry is reported, without a specific rule. In general, the result listed is the one which constituted the specific contribution of the corresponding reference. See also PA and Type.

 

PA:      position angle in degrees. This can be the true position angle, or the angle of the projection in case of 1-D measurements such as is in general the case for LO. In case of a multiple star, only one entry is present and the same considerations apply as for sep.

 

R:         brightness ratio (brighter to fainter), at the observation wavelength as reported in lambda and/or in the corresponding reference. In case of a multiple star, only one entry is present and the same considerations apply as for sep.

 

Typ:     The type of binary. At the time of the initial release of the catalogue, the codes used are: D (double), T (triple), Q (quadruple), M (multiple, i.e. triple or higher), ND (not detected, in case of a source reported as binary or multiple in the literature). S indicates a single star (the binary star is disclaimed, typically due to poor observations), while B? indicated that the binary is doubtful. A missing Typ entry implicitly indicates a double star. Some codes can be followed by a question mark in case of doubt.

 

Computed Diameter     Angular diameter and its error, computed on the basis of a formula as described in Method. An error is included whenever possible. The values entered in this column should be used with caution. Completely erased with CHARM2.

 

Method                        A formula which combines different entries in the catalogue, to yield a theoretical angular diameter and possibly its associated error. See also: Computed Diameter.

The methods currently included are:

BV: Bartholdi (thesis, 1976) relationship based on (B-V) and V. Well-suited for main sequence stars hotter than K.

VB: Van Belle (priv. comm. 2000) relationship based on (V-K) and luminosity class. The apparent angular sizes versus V-K color are estimated  in the case of  :

-         Main Sequence stars  with a V-K from –0.5 to 0.5

-         Giant and Super Giant  with a V-K from 2.0 to 8.0

-         Evolved Sources : Variable stars with V-K from 5.5 to 13.0

Well suited for cool main sequence stars, late-type giant stars, AGB stars.

 

For what concern the errors, we have assumed a fixed error on B, V, K photometry, which has been arbitrarily set to 0.1mag. This assumption is, in many cases, not very realistic and the derived errors must be taken with caution.

 

Note: Completely erased with CHARM2.

 

Comments                    Comments extracted from the reference or inserted by the catalogue compiler.

 

Coordinates                  Source coordinates. The five columns list right ascension, declination, proper motions and epoch, respectively. The format of right ascension is hh.mmsss. The format of declination is (-)dd.mmssss. The proper motions values are set to zero when not available. Proper motions are expressed in "/year. See also the worksheet Coords for an alternate coordinate format. See also: Ang. Dist.

 

Quick Reference Data  This field has several columns, whose number and nature can vary in future releases as needed on the basis of practical experience. At this time, they include the fields described in  Table 3. Entries are compiled from different sources. In the most common case, they are extracted from the Simbad database. They can also include data from the corresponding reference, or from private unpublished data. See also Simbad, Phot, Spec, References.

 

Simbad             This is a link to the information on the specific source, as listed in the Simbad database. It can be a local file on disk (code D), or a URL that allows to look up Simbad directly (code U). Both codes can be present. A code N, or empty, means that no Simbad entry is available for the source. The choice to have both stored information and an active link allows for the maximum flexibility: D links are immediate, and should have most of the information always available with a click. U links provide always complete and updated information (expecially for what concerns literature references), but require Internet connection and can be slow. See also: Chart, Update.

 

Phot                             Link to a private compilation of photometric data on the source. The data may be unpublished. See also Spec, Update. Note: removed with CHARM2.

 

Spec                            Same as Phot, for spectroscopic data. Note: removed with CHARM2.

 

Chart                            Link to a finding chart, if available. The chart is an image of Digital Sky Survey (DSS) in JPG format, covering 10'x10'. DSS-1 is used, but extensions to DSS-2 can be foreseen and therefore a code D1 is used. Future extensions might add the D2B and D2R codes (blue and red). See also: Simbad.

 

Table 3. Quick Reference Data Fields.

Col

Field

Data

1

B

Blue Magnitude

2

 

Code for B – all empty

3

V

Visual Magnitude

4

 

Code for V – all empty

5

K

K Magnitude

6

 

Code for K

7

Kc

Correlated K magnitude (incl. visibility^2)

8

Spectrum

Spectral Type

9

12μm

12μm Flux (Jy)

10