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[vsnet-id 40] Variable-star identification work

     I have noted the welcome recent activity in getting identifications for
variable stars by 'vsnet' folks.  I think this is long overdue, and indeed the
GCVS group in Moscow are doubtless working as best they can to the same end.
As digital sky patrols get cranked up, it will be important that the existing
catalogue of variables be cleaned up in this regard before progress can be
made in inventorying the new objects.  Short of rediscovering the variables by
observation, it is fortunate that nearly all the known or suspected variables
lacking precise positions can be securely recovered using existing
comprehensive star catalogues together with digitized sky survey images and
source charts from the discovery publications.  Additional on-line tools such
as the SIMBAD bibliographic database as well as the catalogue servers developed
at the Strasbourg data center are all helpful.  The Palomar and ESO/SRC sky
survey prints and films form an indispensable component of the identification
and verification process.
     In hopes of avoiding unnecessary duplication of effort (some is useful),
I would like to start a file of what published work has been done.  What
follows is an inevitably partial listing, drawn principally from the IBVS,
which is an appropriate place for such results to be published.  These
bibliographic entries are taken directly from the SIMBAD 'lookbib' listings for
various authors active in this area.  In correspondence Dr. Samus has indicated
to me that Carlos Lopez has done additional work on southern variables that is
not yet published, and doubtless on-going work by the Moscow group has yielded
a large number of accurate positions for known variables that is not yet
widely distributed.
     There seem to be at least two ways of approaching the problem.  One is to
work through lists by publication, such as the numerous lists by Hoffmeister
for various patches of sky.  Work on the MVS charts is still incomplete,
however.  Another is to select a constellation and to deal with its stars
one-by-one from a huge range of source publications.  Both are reasonable
approaches.  In any case, after getting a precise position (~1"), it is most
beneficial to look for identifications in other surveys, such as IRAS, FAUST,
FASTT, etc.  These are most readily found using area-searches in SIMBAD
together with a knowledge of the positional uncertainties in the various
catalogues and the sorts of detections that are likely outside the visible
wavelengths.  Providing these links (besides simply a USNO-A position, for
instance) makes the identification both more verifiable and more secure.
     As far as formats for the lists, I would recommend something along the
lines of Jan Manek's series on the MVS stars that appear in IBVS 4476 and 4498,
which are a model of clarity and careful work.
     I would like to make another plea for those working on this problem to
publish the results, which is most readily done in the IBVS, a free, rapid
journal that is indexed by the ADS and SIMBAD bibliographic database services.
This is practically the only way we can know what work has been covered and
what remains to be done.  More importantly, it is only this way that your
results will become known to the general community and be used to improve our
knowledge of the sky.

\Brian

===================

1994IBVS.4020....1A
  ANTIPIN S.V., KIREEVA N.N., SAMUS N.N.
  IAU Inform. Bull. Var. Stars, 4020, 1-3 (1994)
  Positions of variable stars in Plaut's field 1.

1994IBVS.4021....1A
  ANTIPIN S.V., KIREEVA N.N., SAMUS N.N.
  IAU Inform. Bull. Var. Stars, 4021, 1-4 (1994)
  Positions of variable stars in Plaut's field 2.

1994IBVS.4137....1A
  ANTIPIN S.V., KIREEVA N.N., SAMUS N.N.
  IAU Inform. Bull. Var. Stars, 4137, 1-2 (1994)
  Positions of variable stars in Plaut's field 3.

1996IBVS.4321....1D
  DEMARTINO R., KOCYLA D., PREDOM C., WETHERBEE E.
  IAU Inform. Bull. Var. Stars, 4321, 1-7 (1996)
  Accurate positions of variable stars near the South Galactic Pole.

1996IBVS.4322....1D
  DEMARTINO R., KOCYLA D., PREDOM C., WETHERBEE E.
  IAU Inform. Bull. Var. Stars, 4322, 1-4 (1996)
  Accurate positions of suspected variable stars near the South Galactic pole.

1997PASP..109..345D
  DOWNES R., WEBBINK R.F., SHARA M.M.
  Publ. Astron. Soc. Pac., 109, 345-440 (1997)
  A catalog and atlas of cataclysmic variables-second edition.

1998IBVS.4632....1E
  EVSTIGNEEVA N.M., SHOKIN Yu.A.
  IAU Inform. Bull. Var. Stars, 4632, 1-3 (1998)
  Accurate positions for 45 variables in five fields.

1998IBVS.4584....1K
  KAZAROVETS E.V., SAMUS N.N.
  IAU Inform. Bull. Var. Stars, 4584, 1-2 (1998)
  On identifications of several variable stars in Cygnus.

1983IBVS.2279....1L
  LOPEZ C.
  IAU Inform. Bull. Var. Stars, 2279, 1 (1983)
  Revised position of flare star in Pisces.

1983IBVS.2280....1L
  LOPEZ C.
  IAU Inform. Bull. Var. Stars, 2280, 1-2 (1983)
  Note on XZ Eri and RU Hor.

1985IBVS.2837....1L
  LOPEZ C.E.
  IAU Inform. Bull. Var. Stars, 2837, 1-2 (1985)
  Improved positions of dwarf novae.

1989JAVSO..18..139L
  LOPEZ C.E.
  J. Am. Assoc. Variable star obs., 18, 139 (1989)
  Revised and improved positions of southern variable stars.

1990PASP..102.1018L
  LOPEZ C.E., GIRARD T.M.
  Publ. Astron. Soc. Pac., 102, 1018 (1990)
  Accurate positions for variable and suspected variable stars south of -67d.

1991IBVS.3681....1L
  LOPEZ C.E., GIRARD T.M.
  IAU Inform. Bull. Var. Stars, 3681, 1-4 (1991)
  Improved positions of variable stars in northern Pavo.

1991IBVS.3682....1L
  LOPEZ C.E., LEPEZ H.S.
  IAU Inform. Bull. Var. Stars, 3682, 1-1 (1991)
  On the position of FG Ser.

1993IBVS.3873....1L
  LOPEZ C.E.
  IAU Inform. Bull. Var. Stars, 3873, 1 (1993)
  Identification of NSV stars in the Hubble Space Telescope Guide Star
    Catalogue.

1993IBVS.3907....1L
  LOPEZ C.E.
  IAU Inform. Bull. Var. Stars, 3907, 1-3 (1993)
  Identification of NSV stars in the Hubble Space Telescope Guide Star
    Catalogue. II.

1993IBVS.3908....1L
  LOPEZ C.E., LEPEZ H.S.
  IAU Inform. Bull. Var. Stars, 3908, 1-3 (1993)
  Identification of variable stars in the Hubble Space Telescope Guide Star
    Catalogue.

1993IBVS.3909....1L
  LOPEZ C.E.
  IAU Inform. Bull. Var. Stars, 3909, 1 (1993)
  On the cross-identification of V577 CrA and V607 CrA.

1993IBVS.3944....1L
  LOPEZ C.E., LEPEZ H.S.
  IAU Inform. Bull. Var. Stars, 3944, 1-4 (1993)
  Improved positions of southern NSV stars. I.

1994IBVS.3993....1L
  LOPEZ C.E., TORRES J.E.
  IAU Inform. Bull. Var. Stars, 3993, 1-4 (1994)
  Improved positions of southern NSV stars. II.

1994IBVS.4006....1L
  LOPEZ C.E., MIRA H.
  IAU Inform. Bull. Var. Stars, 4006, 1-4 (1994)
  Improved positions of southern NSV stars. III.

1996IBVS.4347....1L
  LOPEZ C.E., LEPEZ H.S.
  IAU Inform. Bull. Var. Stars, 4347, 1-4 (1996)
  Improved positions of variable stars in Ara. I.

1994IBVS.4004....1M
  MANEK J.
  IAU Inform. Bull. Var. Stars, 4004, 1-2 (1994)
  V447 Cas = NSV 269.

1994IBVS.4015....1M
  MANEK J.
  IAU Inform. Bull. Var. Stars, 4015, 1-2 (1994)
  EP And = NSV 598.

1994IBVS.4016....1M
  MANEK J.
  IAU Inform. Bull. Var. Stars, 4016, 1-2 (1994)
  EK Lac = NSV 14025.

1994IBVS.4017....1M
  MANEK J.
  IAU Inform. Bull. Var. Stars, 4017, 1-2 (1994)
  IX AND = NSV 372.

1994IBVS.4029....1M
  MANEK J.
  IAU Inform. Bull. Var. Stars, 4029, 1-2 (1994)
  IQ Cyg = V 1290 Cyg.

1994IBVS.4031....1M
  MANEK J.
  IAU Inform. Bull. Var. Stars, 4031, 1-1 (1994)
  V 1177 Cyg = NSV 12848.

1994IBVS.4116....1M
  MANEK J.
  IAU Inform. Bull. Var. Stars, 4116, 1-3 (1994)
  CF Cas = NSV 14787.
  Identifications from Ishmukhamedov 1966 not in SIMBAD

1997IBVS.4476....1M
  MANEK J.
  IAU Inform. Bull. Var. Stars, 4476, 1-4 (1997)
  Improved positions for Sonneberg variables : part 1.    [MVS 246-249]

1997IBVS.4478....1M
  MANEK J.
  IAU Inform. Bull. Var. Stars, 4478, 1-1 (1997)
  Correct position of MX Sagittae.

1997IBVS.4498....1M
  MANEK J.
  IAU Inform. Bull. Var. Stars, 4498, 1-4 (1997)
  Improved positions for Sonneberg variables. Part 2.    [MVS 250-254]

1985PVSS...13...68M
  MOREL M., McNAUGHT R.H.
  Royal Astronomical Society of New Zealand - Publications of Variable Star
    Section, 13, 68-74 (1985)
  Identifications for some neglected southern variables.

1987IBVS.3096....1M
  MOREL M.
  IAU Inform. Bull. Var. Stars, 3096, 1-3 (1987)
  Identification of variable stars in Sagittarius.

1992IBVS.3702....1M
  MOREL M.
  IAU Inform. Bull. Var. Stars, 3702, 1-4 (1992)
  Identifications and coordinates for nineteen NSV stars.

1994IBVS.4037....1M
  MOREL M.
  IAU Inform. Bull. Var. Stars, 4037, 1-3 (1994)
  Improved astrometry for variable stars.

1995IBVS.4238....1M
  MOREL M.
  IAU Inform. Bull. Var. Stars, 4238, 1-3 (1995)
  Positions of variables in southern clusters.

1995IBVS.4238....3M
  MOREL M.
  IAU Inform. Bull. Var. Stars, 4238, 3-3 (1995)
  Corrected position for EV Aqr.

1997IBVS.4429....1S
  SHOKIN Y.A., SAMUS N.N.
  IAU Inform. Bull. Var. Stars, 4429, 1-3 (1997)
  Accurate positions for 38 variables in a 5deg x 5deg field around BL Lac.

1997IBVS.4417....1S
  SKIFF B.A.
  IAU Inform. Bull. Var. Stars, 4417, 1-6 (1997)
  A revision of Dolidze's "List of probable long-period variables of M
    types...".

1997IBVS.4431....1S
  SKIFF B.
  IAU Inform. Bull. Var. Stars, 4431, 1-4 (1997)
  Identification of the Margoni-Stagni variables.

1997IBVS.4433....1S
  SKIFF B.A.
  IAU Inform. Bull. Var. Stars, 4433, 1-4 (1997)
  Identification of the Rosino-Guzzi variables in Sagitta.

1997IBVS.4441....1S
  SKIFF B.A.
  IAU Inform. Bull. Var. Stars, 4441, 1-4 (1997)
  Identification of variables near NGC 7635.

1997IBVS.4448....1S
  SKIFF B.A., WILLIAMS G.V.
  IAU Inform. Bull. Var. Stars, 4448, 1-3 (1997)
  Identification of Dahlmark variables: I.

1997IBVS.4459....1S
  SKIFF B.A.
  IAU Inform. Bull. Var. Stars, 4459, 1-4 (1997)
  Identifications for Baade's variables in Sagitta and Cygnus.

1997IBVS.4450....1S
  SKIFF B.A., WILLIAMS G.V.
  IAU Inform. Bull. Var. Stars, 4450, 1-3 (1997)
  Identification of Dahlmark variables: III.

1993IBVS.3910....1W
  WEBBINK R.F.
  IAU Inform. Bull. Var. Stars, 3910, 1 (1993)
  Nova V360 Herculis (1892) identified.

1997IBVS.4449....1W
  WILLIAMS G.V., SKIFF B.A.
  IAU Inform. Bull. Var. Stars, 4449, 1-3 (1997)
  Identification of Dahlmark variables: II.

1997IBVS.4451....1W
  WILLIAMS G.V., SKIFF B.A.
  IAU Inform. Bull. Var. Stars, 4451, 1-2 (1997)
  Identification of Dahlmark variables: IV.

=end=

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