| 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 January 2024) 157,012 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]
Delta Sculptoris is a triple star system in the constellation Sculptor. It is approximately 137.4 light years from Earth.
Tau Tauri, Latinized from τ Tauri, is a quadruple star system in the constellation Taurus. It is visible to the naked eye as a faint point of light with a combined apparent visual magnitude of 4.33. The distance to this system is approximately about 400 light years based on parallax. The system is moving further from the Earth with a heliocentric radial velocity of +14.6 km/s, and it is a member of the Taurion OB association, located between Orion and Taurus. It is located 0.7 degree north of the ecliptic, and thus is subject to lunar occultations.
12 Boötis is a spectroscopic binary in the constellation Boötes. It is approximately 122 light years from Earth.
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 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.
Tau Ophiuchi is a multiple star in the constellation Ophiuchus, approximately 167 light years away based on parallax. Its two main components are two yellow-white main sequence stars, A, of magnitude 5.24 and class F2V, and B, of magnitude 5.94 and class F5V, orbiting each other with a period of 257 years and eccentricity around 0.77. A is reported as a spectroscopic binary with a smaller star of 0.29 solar masses orbiting it every 186 days. An additional component, C, has a separation of 100.8" and magnitude 11.28.
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.
PU Puppis is a class B8III star in the constellation Puppis. Its apparent magnitude is 4.69 and it is approximately 620 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.
21 Sagittarii is a binary star system in the southern zodiac constellation of Sagittarius. It is visible to the naked eye as a faint point of light with a combined apparent visual magnitude of 4.81. The system is located approximately 410 light years away from the Sun based on parallax. It is moving closer to the Earth with a heliocentric radial velocity of −11.80 km/s.
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.
43 Persei is a binary star system in the northern constellation Perseus. It is visible to the naked eye as a dim, yellow-white hued star with an apparent visual magnitude of 5.28. The system is located around 38.5 parsecs (125.4 ly) distant from the Sun, based on parallax.
Theta2 Microscopii is a class A0III star in the constellation Microscopium. Its apparent magnitude is 5.76 and it is approximately 390 light years away based on parallax. It is an Ap star, a chemically peculiar star with unusually strong metallic spectral lines.
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.