Explanation of the columns in the WDS primaries vs their UCAC5 counterparts list.


This is a list of WDS primaries that are thought to be physical (a "V" designation in the WDS) and are between 16.0mv and 6.0mv. Secondary distances also needed to be between 4" and 60".

UCAC5 counterparts needed to be within 4" of the WDS primary, and within a magnitude of the WDS listed brightness. The closest UCAC5 star matching these criteria was chosen as the counterpart.

Of 6742 primaries tested, 5483 had UCAC5 counterparts, and 8 were too close to the borders of a search area to be accurately tested.

Column explanation:

WDS primary J2000 the J2000 coordinates of the primary star of the WDS binary. The coordinates are formatted such that they can be copied into tools such as Aladin or WikiSky to display the DSS image at that location.

WDS Id is a 10 digit string that lists a low precision coordinate of the pair.

Dsc Id gives the discoverer's initials or designator, and the number of the pair in their published list.

A mv is the visual magnitude of the primary.

B mv is the visual magnitude of the secondary.

WDS θ is the position angle of the pair, as reported by the WDS.

WDS ρ is the separation of the pair, in arc seconds, as reported by the WDS.

UCAC5 Id the numeric UCAC5 id, taken from the Gaia data.

UCAC5 J2000 the J2000 coordinates of the UCAC5 counterpart to the WDS primary.

UCAC5 A mv the visual magnitude of the UCAC5 counterpart to the WDS primary.

UCAC5 B mv the visual magnitude of the UCAC5 counterpart to the WDS secondary.

UCAC5 θ is the position angle of the UCAC5 pair.

UCAC5 ρ is the separation of the UCAC5 pair, in arc seconds.

Error in θ the difference in position between the WDS and UCAC5 position angles.

Primary delta the difference in position between the WDS primary and its UCAC5 counterpart. Differences greater than 2" are shown in red, 1" in yellow. WDS primaries with counterparts greater than 4" have been eliminated from the list.