The SRS Catalog of 20,488 Star Positions Culmination of an International Cooperative Effort

Abstract

A major international effort to observe and compile the results of observations from many transit circle programs into a single catalog of positions referred to the FK4 system came to a conclusion with the completion and distribution of the Southern Reference Star (SRS) catalog of 20,488 stars. Previous discussions focussed on the adjustments to the observational material to refer it to the FK4 system and on the random errors as estimated from residual differences. In the present discussion, we give the results of internal comparisons which have been made between the individual contributing catalogs and the final combined SRS catalog. Also, results of a comparison between the SRS catalog and the AGK3R catalog are given where they overlap in the declination zone from +5 to −5 degrees. The possibility of magnitude equation and color error in the SRS catalog is discussed.The reduction procedure used to transform the version of the SRS catalog based on the FK4/B1950.0 system to the version based on the FK5/J2000.0 system is given.