SYMBIOTICS - Symbiotic Stars Catalog

Overview

This database table contains a catalog of confirmed and suspected symbiotic stars. The list includes 188 symbiotic stars as well as 30 objects suspected of being symbiotic. For each star, basic observational material is presented: coordinates, V and K magnitudes, ultraviolet (UV), infrared (IR), X-ray and radio observations. Also listed are the spectral type of the cool component, the maximum ionization potential observed, references to finding charts, spectra, classifications and recent (as of 2000) papers discussing the physical parameters and nature of each object. This table does NOT contain the information on orbital photometric ephemerides and orbital elements of known symbiotic binaries, pulsational periods for symbiotic Miras, Hipparcos parallaxes and information about outbursts and flickering that is contained in the printed version of the catalog (see Tables 3-7 in the paper for this material).

Catalog Bibcode

2000A&AS..146..407B

References

A catalogue of symbiotic stars.
    Belczynski K., Mikolajewska J., Munari U., Ivison R.J., Friedjung M.
   <Astron. Astrophys. Suppl. Ser. 146, 407 (2000)>
   =2000A&AS..146..407B

Provenance

This table was created by the HEASARC in November 2005 based on 4 CDS tables (table1.dat, table1b.dat, table2.dat, table2b.dat) from the directory J/A+AS/146/407/.

Parameters

Alt_Name
The catalog designation as recommended by the Dictionary of Nomenclature of Celestial Objects, using the prefix 'BMM2000 ', where confirmed symbiotics are numbered from 1 to 188, and suspected symbiotics are numbered from s1 to s30.

Note_Flag
This parameter is a flag which is set to 'Y' if there is a note in the paper about the classification of the symbiotic and/or another type of comment on the object: these notes are also available online at https://cdsarc.cds.unistra.fr/ftp/cats/J/A+AS/146/407/notes.dat.

Name
The symbiotic star name. If, for a given object, a variable star name existed, then it was chosen; otherwise, the name used most often in the literature was adopted. The catalog authors advise the use of this name when referring to the symbiotic system rather than the catalog designation (given here as the alt_name parameter).

RA
The Right Ascension of the symbiotic system in the selected equinox. This was given in J2000.0 equatorial coordinates to a precision of 0.1 seconds of time in the original table. The positions were taken from radio (VLA) positions (Ivison et al., 1995MNRAS.273..517I, Seaquist & Taylor, 1990ApJ...349..313S, Seaquist et al., 1984ApJ...284..202S) if available, and, if not, from the SIMBAD database (but corrected in a few cases were obvious mistakes were spotted). If the position was taken from somewhere else, then a comment was made about this in Section 4 of the paper (see also https://cdsarc.cds.unistra.fr/ftp/cats/J/A+AS/146/407/notes.dat).

Dec
The Declination of the symbiotic system in the selected equinox. This was given in J2000.0 equatorial coordinates to a precision of 0.1 arcseconds in the original table. The positions were taken from radio (VLA) positions (Ivison et al., 1995MNRAS.273..517I, Seaquist & Taylor, 1990ApJ...349..313S, Seaquist et al., 1984ApJ...284..202S) if available, and, if not, from the SIMBAD database (but corrected in a few cases were obvious mistakes were spotted). If the position was taken from somewhere else, then a comment was made about this in Section 4 of the paper (see also https://cdsarc.cds.unistra.fr/ftp/cats/J/A+AS/146/407/notes.dat).

LII
The Galactic Longitude of the symbiotic system.

BII
The Galactic Latitude of the symbiotic system.

Vmag_Limit
This parameter is a flag which is set to '>' to indicate that the quoted V magnitude is a lower limit, i.e., the actual value is fainter than the quoted value.

Vmag
The V magnitude of the symbiotic system. As most, if not all, symbiotics are variable, these values are somewhat arbitrary, usually the average of published measurements, just to give the general level of an object's brightness.

Vmag_Flag
This parameter is a flag which is set to ':' to indicate that the quoted V magnitude is uncertain.

Kmag_Limit
This parameter is a flag which is set to '>' to indicate that the quoted K magnitude is a lower limit, i.e., the actual value is fainter than the quoted value.

Kmag
The K magnitude of the symbiotic system. As most, if not all, symbiotics are variable, these values are somewhat arbitrary, usually the average of published measurements, just to give the general level of an object's brightness.

IR_Type
The infrared type of the symbiotic, S or D. If two IR types are given for one object, then the authors supplied references to both estimates in the notes (Section 4 of the paper, and also https://cdsarc.cds.unistra.fr/ftp/cats/J/A+AS/146/407/notes.dat).

IUE_Spectra
This parameter is a flag which is set to 'Y' to indicate that an IUE spectrum (or spectra) as (are) available. The number of IUE spectra can be readily obtained from SIMBAD and the IUE spectra themselves can be obtained from the MAST IUE Archive ( http://archive.stsci.edu/iue/ ).

Xray_Detected
This parameter is a flag which is set to 'Y' to indicate that the object has been detected in the X-ray regime, or to 'N' if the object was observed in X-rays but not detected, with only an upper limit being obtained. Most of the detections and upper limits came from ROSAT and were reported in Bickert et al. (1997, in Supersoft X-Ray Sources, Greiner J. (ed.). Springer, Berlin, p. 225) but some have also been observed by the Einstein (Allen, 1981MNRAS.197..739A), EXOSAT and ASCA X-ray observatories.

Xray_Detected_Flag
This parameter is a flag which is set to '?' to indicate that the quoted X-ray detection is uncertain.

Max_IP
The highest ionization potential ever observed in the emission-line spectra of an object, in electron volts (eV).

Max_IP_Flag
This parameter is a flag which is set to ':' to indicate that the quoted highest ionization potential is uncertain.

Spect_Type
An estimate of the spectral type of the cool component in the symbiotic system. Since the blue and visual spectral regions are often contaminated by the circumstellar nebula and/or the hot component, the catalog authors have given priority to estimates made in the near-IR region and, in the case of multiple estimates, to those made at quiescence and/or near to inferior conjunction of the cool giant. The estimates based on the TiO bands are separated from those based on CO 2.3-um bands by "/". Also, if the cool component was reported to behave as a Mira, i.e. if Mira-like pulsations have been detected or the object's position in the near-IR/IRAS colour diagram coincides with the region occupied by Mira variables (Kenyon & Fernandez-Castro, 1987AJ.....93..938K, Whitelock, 1988IAUCo.103...47W), then it is noted in this field.

Spect_Type_Ref
The reference code(s) for the quoted spectral type(s). The key to the codes is given in the paper and in https://cdsarc.cds.unistra.fr/ftp/cats/J/A+AS/146/407/refs.dat).

Alt_Spect_Type
A second estimate of the spectral type of the cool component in the symbiotic system.

Alt_Spect_Type_Ref
The reference code(s) for the quoted second spectral type(s). The key to the codes is given in the paper and in https://cdsarc.cds.unistra.fr/ftp/cats/J/A+AS/146/407/refs.dat).

Radio_Flux_1_Limit
This parameter is a flag which is set to '<' to indicate that the quoted first radio flux density measurement is an upper limit.

Radio_Flux_1
A radio flux density measurement of the symbiotic system, at the wavelength specified by the parameter radio_wavelength, in mJy. Both detections and upper limits are given. If more than one detection has been reported, only one is included (with the single exception of RX Pup for which a second value is included), and the priority is given to the most extensive radio survey of symbiotics at 3.6 cm (Seaquist et al., 1993ApJ...410..260S). Other extensive surveys of symbiotic stars which were searched for radio detections include Seaquist & Taylor (1990ApJ...349..313S), Wright & Allen (1978MNRAS.184..893W), Seaquist et al. (1984ApJ...284..202S), Ivison et al. (1991MNRAS.249..374I), and Ivison et al. (1995MNRAS.273..517I).

Radio_Flux_1_Flag
This parameter is a flag which is set to ':' to indicate that the quoted radio flux density is uncertain.

Radio_Flux_2
A second radio flux density measurement, in mJy (this field is populated for RX Pup only).

Radio_Wavelength
The wavelength of the reported radio observation, in cm.

Flux_12um
The IRAS flux at 12 microns (µm), in Jy. The fluxes are taken from pointed observations, if available, (Kenyon et al. 1988AJ.....95.1817K) or from survey observations as listed in SIMBAD. If, for some object, there was no report of observations in either of the above two sources, but IRAS fluxes were available from somewhere else, then the reference to reported observations is given in the notes section of the published paper (given in https://cdsarc.cds.unistra.fr/ftp/cats/J/A+AS/146/407/notes.dat). The IRAS designation is given in Table 8 of the published paper (which contains different object names for the symbiotic and suspected symbiotic stars).

Flux_12um_Limit
This parameter is a flag which is set to '<' to indicate that the quoted IRAS flux density is an upper limit.

Flux_25um
The IRAS flux at 25 microns (µm), in Jy. The fluxes are taken from pointed observations, if available, (Kenyon et al. 1988AJ.....95.1817K) or from survey observations as listed in SIMBAD. If, for some object, there was no report of observations in either of the above two sources, but IRAS fluxes were available from somewhere else, then the reference to reported observations is given in the notes section of the published paper (given in https://cdsarc.cds.unistra.fr/ftp/cats/J/A+AS/146/407/notes.dat). The IRAS designation is given in Table 8 of the published paper (which contains different object names for the symbiotic and suspected symbiotic stars).

Flux_25um_Limit
This parameter is a flag which is set to ':' to indicate that the quoted IRAS flux density is uncertain, or is set to '<' to indicate that the quoted IRAS flux density is an upper limit.

Ref_1
A code for a major literature reference for the object. The key for these codes is available at https://cdsarc.cds.unistra.fr/ftp/cats/J/A+AS/146/407/refs.dat.

Ref_1_Subject
The subject matter given in the corresponding reference, in an abbreviated form: 'fc' stands for finding chart, 'spc' for optical spectrum, 'class' for classification, and 'parm' for the latest, or the most extensive and up-to-date, discussion of the object.

Ref_2
A code for a major literature reference for the object. The key for these codes is available at https://cdsarc.cds.unistra.fr/ftp/cats/J/A+AS/146/407/refs.dat.

Ref_2_Subject
The subject matter given in the corresponding reference, in an abbreviated form: 'fc' stands for finding chart, 'spc' for optical spectrum, 'class' for classification, and 'parm' for the latest, or the most extensive and up-to-date, discussion of the object.

Ref_3
A code for a major literature reference for the object. The key for these codes is available at https://cdsarc.cds.unistra.fr/ftp/cats/J/A+AS/146/407/refs.dat.

Ref_3_Subject
The subject matter given in the corresponding reference, in an abbreviated form: 'fc' stands for finding chart, 'spc' for optical spectrum, 'class' for classification, and 'parm' for the latest, or the most extensive and up-to-date, discussion of the object.

Ref_4
A code for a major literature reference for the object. The key for these codes is available at https://cdsarc.cds.unistra.fr/ftp/cats/J/A+AS/146/407/refs.dat.

Ref_4_Subject
The subject matter given in the corresponding reference, in an abbreviated form: 'fc' stands for finding chart, 'spc' for optical spectrum, 'class' for classification, and 'parm' for the latest, or the most extensive and up-to-date, discussion of the object.

Class
The HEASARC Browse object classification of the symbiotic, based upon the spectral type of the cool component given in the spect_type parameter, else in the alt_spect_type parameter.

Symbiotic_Status
This HEASARC-created paramater indicates whether the symbiotic star is a 'confirmed' member of the class (as listed in Table 1 of the published paper), or a 'suspected' member of the class (as listed in Table 2 of the published paper).

Contact Person

Questions regarding the SYMBIOTICS database table can be addressed to the HEASARC Help Desk.

Page Author: Browse Software Development Team
Last Modified: Monday, 16-Sep-2024 17:35:43 EDT