| Alternative names | WDS |
|---|---|
The Washington Double Star Catalog, or WDS, is a catalog of double stars, maintained at the United States Naval Observatory. The catalog contains positions, magnitudes, proper motions and spectral types and has entries for (as of June 2017) 141,743 pairs of double stars. The catalog also includes multiple stars. In general, a multiple star with n components will be represented by entries in the catalog for n-1 pairs of stars.
The database used to construct the WDS originated at Lick Observatory, where it was used to construct the Index Catalog of Visual Double Stars, published in 1963. In 1965, under the initiative of Charles Worley, it was transferred to the Naval Observatory. [1]
The catalog has since been augmented by many measurements, mainly from the Hipparcos and Tycho catalogues and results from speckle interferometry, as well as other sources. A unique 1–3 letter discovery code is used to identify the observer who reported the information. For example, HEI is used for the German astronomer W. D. Heintz. [2]
12 Boötis is a spectroscopic binary in the constellation Boötes. It is approximately 122 light years from Earth.
Tau Canis Majoris is a multiple star system in the constellation Canis Major. It is approximately 5,000 light years distant from Earth and is the brightest member of the open cluster NGC 2362.
4 Centauri is a star in the constellation Centaurus. It is a blue-white B-type subgiant with an apparent magnitude of +4.75 and is approximately 640 light years from Earth.
23 Vulpeculae is a triple star system in the northern constellation of Vulpecula. It is visible to the naked eye as a faint, orange-hued star with an apparent visual magnitude of 4.52 and it is located approximately 327 light years away from the Sun based on parallax. The system is moving further from the Earth with a heliocentric radial velocity of +1.47 km/s.
R Aurigae (R Aur) is a Mira variable, a pulsating red giant star in the constellation of Auriga, at a distance of 930 light years.
HD 35619 is a double star in the northern constellation of Auriga. It has an apparent magnitude of 8.572, which is too faint to be viewed with the naked eye. The companion is 12th magnitude and 2 arc-seconds away.
HD 36960 is a B-type main-sequence star in the constellation Orion. At an apparent magnitude of +4.78 it is easily visible to the naked eye in many areas, though in most urban areas it cannot be seen due to light pollution. Although it does not have a Bayer or Flamsteed designation, it is brighter than over 30 Flamsteed stars in Orion, as well as being brighter than any of the stars in the nearby Orion Nebula such as θ1 Orionis C and θ2 Orionis.
HD 102350 is a single star in the constellation Centaurus. It has a yellow hue and is visible to the naked eye with an apparent visual magnitude of 4.11. The distance to this star is approximately 390 light years based on parallax, but it is drifting closer with a radial velocity of −3 km/s. It has an absolute magnitude of −1.51.
1 Geminorum is a star in the constellation Gemini. Its apparent magnitude is 4.15.
HD 103079 is a class B4V star in the constellation Musca. Its apparent magnitude is 4.89 and it is approximately 362 light years away from Earth based on parallax. It is a member of the Lower Centaurus–Crux subgroup of the Scorpius–Centaurus association, a group of predominantly hot blue-white stars that share a common origin and proper motion across the galaxy.
42 Orionis is a class B1V star in the constellation Orion. Its apparent magnitude is 4.59 and it is approximately 900 light years away based on parallax.
HD 63922 is a class B0III star in the constellation Puppis. Its apparent magnitude is 4.11 and it is approximately 1600 light years away based on parallax.
HD 69142 is a class K1II-III star in the constellation Puppis. Its apparent magnitude is 4.44 and it is approximately 298 light years away based on parallax.
HD 61330 is a class B8IV star in the constellation Puppis. Its apparent magnitude is 4.53 and it is approximately 360 light years away based on parallax.
HD 68601 is a class A7Ib star in the constellation Puppis. Its apparent magnitude is 4.75 and it is approximately 4,200 light years away based on parallax.
HD 56456 is a class B8.5V star in the constellation Puppis. Its apparent magnitude is 4.76 and it is approximately 377 light years away based on parallax.
HD 59612 is a class A5Ib supergiant star in the constellation Puppis. Its apparent magnitude is 4.86 and it is approximately 3,100 light years away based on parallax.
HD 172910 is a class B2.5V star in the constellation Sagittarius. Its apparent magnitude is 4.87 and it is approximately 467 light years away based on parallax.
HD 190056 is a class K1III star in the constellation Sagittarius. Its apparent magnitude is 4.99 and it is approximately 291 light years away based on parallax.
WR 135 is a variable Wolf-Rayet star located around 6,000 light years away from Earth in the constellation of Cygnus, surrounded by a faint bubble nebula blown by the intense radiation and fast wind from the star. It is just over four times the radius of the sun, but due to a temperature of 63,000 K it is 250,000 times as luminous as the sun.
These files are no longer updated. This is an archival website for the 2001.0 edition of the Washington Double Star Catalog. The last major update to this site was 26 September 2001 by Brian Mason.