For a number of years there has been a great demand for a high-density catalog of accurate stellar positions and proper motions that maintains a consistent system of reference over the entire sky. The Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory Star Catalog (SAO; SAO Staff 1966) has partially met those requirements, but its positions brought to current epochs now contain errors on the order of 1 second of arc, plus the proper motions in the SAO differ systematically with one another depending on their source catalogs. With the completion of the Second Cape Photographic Catalogue (CPC2; de Vegt et al. 1989), a photographic survey comparable in density to the AGK3 (Dieckvoss 1975) was finally available for the southern hemisphere. These two catalogs were used as a base and matched against the AGK2 (Schorr & Kohlschuetter 1951-58), Yale photographic zones (Yale Trans., Vols. 11-32), First Cape Photographic Catalogue (CPC1; Jackson & Stoy 1954, 55, 58; Stoy 1966), Sydney Southern Star Catalogue (King & Lomb 1983), Sydney Zone Catalogue -48 to -54 degrees (Eichhorn et al. 1983), 124 meridian circle catalogs, and catalogs of recent epochs, such as the Carlsberg Meridian Catalogue, La Palma (CAMC), USNO Zodiacal Zone Catalog (Douglass & Harrington 1990), and the Perth 83 Catalogue (Harwood [1990]) to obtain as many input positions as possible. All positions were then reduced to the system of the FK4 (Fricke & Kopff 1963) using a combination of the FK4, the FK4 Supplement as improved by H. Schwan of the Astronomisches Rechen-Institut in Heidelberg, and the International Reference Stars (IRS; Corbin 1991), then combined with the CPC2 and AGK3. The total number of input positions from which the ACRS was formed is 1,643,783. The original catalog is divided into two parts. Part 1 contains the stars having better observational histories and, therefore, more reliable positions and proper motions. This part constitutes 78 percent of the catalog; the mean errors of the proper motions are +/-0.47 arcsec per century and +/-0.46 arcsec per century in right ascension and declination, respectively. The stars in Part 2 have poor observational histories and consist mostly of objects for which only two catalog positions in one or both coordinates were available for computing the proper motions. Where accuracy is the primary consideration, only the stars in Part 1 should be used, while if the highest possible density is desired, the two parts should be combined. The ACRS was compiled at the U. S. Naval Observatory with the intention that it be used for new reductions of the Astrographic Catalogue (AC) plates. These plates are small in area (2 x 2 deg) and the IRS is not dense enough. Whereas the ACRS was compiled using the same techniques developed to produce the IRS, it became clear as the work progressed that the ACRS would have applications far beyond its original purpose. With accurate positions and proper motions rigorously reduced to both the FK4 and FK5 (Fricke et al. 1988) systems, it does more than simply replace the SAO. Rather, it provides the uniform system of reference stars that has been needed for many years by those who require densities greater than the IRS and with high accuracy over a wide range of epochs. It is intended that, as additional observations become available, stars will be migrated from Part 2 to Part 1, with the hope that eventually the ACRS will be complete in one part. Additional details concerning the compilation and properties of the ACRS can be found in Corbin & Urban (1989) except that the star counts and errors given here supersede the ones given in 1989. The HEASARC revised this database table in August, 2005, in order to add Galactic coordinates. This is a service provided by NASA HEASARC .

The SAGE-SMC pro ject is a Cycle 4 legacy program on the Spitzer Space Telescope, entitled, SAGE-SMC: Surveying the Agents of Galaxy Evolution in the Tidally-Disrupted, Low-Metallicity Small Magellanic Cloud, with Karl Gordon (STScI) as the PI. The project overview and initial results are described in a paper by Gordon et al. (2010, in prep). The SMC was mapped at two different epochs dubbed Epochs 1 and 2 separated by 3 (IRAC) and 9 (MIPS) months, as this provides a 90-degree roll angle in the orientation of the detectors, which optimally removes the striping artifacts in MIPS and artifacts along columns and rows in the IRAC image data. In addition, these two epochs are useful constraints of source variability expected for evolved stars and some young stellar ob jects (YSOs). The IRAC and MIPS observations from the S3MC pathfinder survey of the inner 3 sq. deg. of the SMC (PI: Bolatto, referred to as Epoch 0) have been reduced using the same software. In comparison to the catalog, the archive has more source fluxes (fewer nulled wavelengths) and some more sources but these additions have more uncertainty associated with them. For the catalog, a source must be detected in at least 60% of the observations at that wavelength, at least 32% of the observations in an adjacent band (the confirming band), and the S/N must be greater than [5, 5, 5, 7] for IRAC bands [3.6um], [4.5um], [5.8um] and [8.0um]. The 2MASS K_s band is counted as a detection. For a typical source, extracted from 2x12 sec frametime images, the minimum detection criterion amounts to being detected twice in one band (usually band 1 or 2) and once in an adjacent band (sometimes referred to as the 2+1 criterion). For the catalog, sources with neighbors within a 2" radius are excluded (culled). For the archive, sources within a 0.5" are excluded. For more details, see Section 3.3 of the SAGE-SMC Data Delivery Document.

The SAGE-SMC pro ject is a Cycle 4 legacy program on the Spitzer Space Telescope, entitled, SAGE-SMC: Surveying the Agents of Galaxy Evolution in the Tidally-Disrupted, Low-Metallicity Small Magellanic Cloud, with Karl Gordon (STScI) as the PI. The project overview and initial results are described in a paper by Gordon et al. (2010, in prep). The SMC was mapped at two different epochs dubbed Epochs 1 and 2 separated by 3 (IRAC) and 9 (MIPS) months, as this provides a 90-degree roll angle in the orientation of the detectors, which optimally removes the striping artifacts in MIPS and artifacts along columns and rows in the IRAC image data. In addition, these two epochs are useful constraints of source variability expected for evolved stars and some young stellar ob jects (YSOs). The IRAC and MIPS observations from the S3MC pathfinder survey of the inner 3 sq. deg. of the SMC (PI: Bolatto, referred to as Epoch 0) have been reduced using the same software. To be included in each single epoch catalog, each 24 um source has to meet a number of criteria. The source had to be nearly point like with a correlation value >0.89. This removed approximately 2/3 of the entries in the single epoch source lists. In regions where there is a significant structure in the surrounding region (identified as having a sigma > 0.25 in a 120" width square box), the source had to have a correlation value >0.91. This requirement removed a small number of sources (70). Finally, all sources had to have signal-to-noise (S/N) values >5. The S/N used was that estimated from the StarFinder code using the mosaic uncertainty image added in quadrature with an 0.6% error due to the background subtraction. This removed 700 sources. The final Epoch 1 catalog likely has a few remaining unreliable sources, estimated to be at less than the 1% level. The Full List contains ALL sources extracted from the MIPS 24 um mosaics, thus a user should be aware that it contains spurious sources. For more details, see Section 4.1 of the SAGE-SMC Data Delivery Document.

The SAGE-SMC pro ject is a Cycle 4 legacy program on the Spitzer Space Telescope, entitled, SAGE-SMC: Surveying the Agents of Galaxy Evolution in the Tidally-Disrupted, Low-Metallicity Small Magellanic Cloud, with Karl Gordon (STScI) as the PI. The project overview and initial results are described in a paper by Gordon et al. (2010, in prep). The SMC was mapped at two different epochs dubbed Epochs 1 and 2 separated by 3 (IRAC) and 9 (MIPS) months, as this provides a 90-degree roll angle in the orientation of the detectors, which optimally removes the striping artifacts in MIPS and artifacts along columns and rows in the IRAC image data. In addition, these two epochs are useful constraints of source variability expected for evolved stars and some young stellar ob jects (YSOs). The IRAC and MIPS observations from the S3MC pathfinder survey of the inner 3 sq. deg. of the SMC (PI: Bolatto, referred to as Epoch 0) have been reduced using the same software. In comparison to the catalog, the archive has more source fluxes (fewer nulled wavelengths) and some more sources but these additions have more uncertainty associated with them. For the catalog, a source must be detected in at least 60% of the observations at that wavelength, at least 32% of the observations in an adjacent band (the confirming band), and the S/N must be greater than [5, 5, 5, 7] for IRAC bands [3.6um], [4.5um], [5.8um] and [8.0um]. The 2MASS K_s band is counted as a detection. For a typical source, extracted from 2x12 sec frametime images, the minimum detection criterion amounts to being detected twice in one band (usually band 1 or 2) and once in an adjacent band (sometimes referred to as the 2+1 criterion). For the catalog, sources with neighbors within a 2" radius are excluded (culled). For the archive, sources within a 0.5" are excluded. For more details, see Section 3.3 of the SAGE-SMC Data Delivery Document.

The SAGE-SMC pro ject is a Cycle 4 legacy program on the Spitzer Space Telescope, entitled, SAGE-SMC: Surveying the Agents of Galaxy Evolution in the Tidally-Disrupted, Low-Metallicity Small Magellanic Cloud, with Karl Gordon (STScI) as the PI. The project overview and initial results are described in a paper by Gordon et al. (2010, in prep). The SMC was mapped at two different epochs dubbed Epochs 1 and 2 separated by 3 (IRAC) and 9 (MIPS) months, as this provides a 90-degree roll angle in the orientation of the detectors, which optimally removes the striping artifacts in MIPS and artifacts along columns and rows in the IRAC image data. In addition, these two epochs are useful constraints of source variability expected for evolved stars and some young stellar ob jects (YSOs). The IRAC and MIPS observations from the S3MC pathfinder survey of the inner 3 sq. deg. of the SMC (PI: Bolatto, referred to as Epoch 0) have been reduced using the same software. In comparison to the catalog, the archive has more source fluxes (fewer nulled wavelengths) and some more sources but these additions have more uncertainty associated with them. For the catalog, a source must be detected in at least 60% of the observations at that wavelength, at least 32% of the observations in an adjacent band (the confirming band), and the S/N must be greater than [5, 5, 5, 7] for IRAC bands [3.6um], [4.5um], [5.8um] and [8.0um]. The 2MASS K_s band is counted as a detection. For a typical source, extracted from 2x12 sec frametime images, the minimum detection criterion amounts to being detected twice in one band (usually band 1 or 2) and once in an adjacent band (sometimes referred to as the 2+1 criterion). For the catalog, sources with neighbors within a 2" radius are excluded (culled). For the archive, sources within a 0.5" are excluded. For more details, see Section 3.3 of the SAGE-SMC Data Delivery Document.

The SAGE-SMC pro ject is a Cycle 4 legacy program on the Spitzer Space Telescope, entitled, SAGE-SMC: Surveying the Agents of Galaxy Evolution in the Tidally-Disrupted, Low-Metallicity Small Magellanic Cloud, with Karl Gordon (STScI) as the PI. The project overview and initial results are described in a paper by Gordon et al. (2010, in prep). The SMC was mapped at two different epochs dubbed Epochs 1 and 2 separated by 3 (IRAC) and 9 (MIPS) months, as this provides a 90-degree roll angle in the orientation of the detectors, which optimally removes the striping artifacts in MIPS and artifacts along columns and rows in the IRAC image data. In addition, these two epochs are useful constraints of source variability expected for evolved stars and some young stellar ob jects (YSOs). The IRAC and MIPS observations from the S3MC pathfinder survey of the inner 3 sq. deg. of the SMC (PI: Bolatto, referred to as Epoch 0) have been reduced using the same software. To be included in each single epoch catalog, each 24 um source has to meet a number of criteria. The source had to be nearly point like with a correlation value >0.89. This removed approximately 2/3 of the entries in the single epoch source lists. In regions where there is a significant structure in the surrounding region (identified as having a sigma > 0.25 in a 120" width square box), the source had to have a correlation value >0.91. This requirement removed a small number of sources (70). Finally, all sources had to have signal-to-noise (S/N) values >5. The S/N used was that estimated from the StarFinder code using the mosaic uncertainty image added in quadrature with an 0.6% error due to the background subtraction. This removed 700 sources. The final Epoch 1 catalog likely has a few remaining unreliable sources, estimated to be at less than the 1% level. The Full List contains ALL sources extracted from the MIPS 24 um mosaics, thus a user should be aware that it contains spurious sources. For more details, see Section 4.1 of the SAGE-SMC Data Delivery Document.

The SAGE-SMC pro ject is a Cycle 4 legacy program on the Spitzer Space Telescope, entitled, SAGE-SMC: Surveying the Agents of Galaxy Evolution in the Tidally-Disrupted, Low-Metallicity Small Magellanic Cloud, with Karl Gordon (STScI) as the PI. The project overview and initial results are described in a paper by Gordon et al. (2010, in prep). The SMC was mapped at two different epochs dubbed Epochs 1 and 2 separated by 3 (IRAC) and 9 (MIPS) months, as this provides a 90-degree roll angle in the orientation of the detectors, which optimally removes the striping artifacts in MIPS and artifacts along columns and rows in the IRAC image data. In addition, these two epochs are useful constraints of source variability expected for evolved stars and some young stellar ob jects (YSOs). The IRAC and MIPS observations from the S3MC pathfinder survey of the inner 3 sq. deg. of the SMC (PI: Bolatto, referred to as Epoch 0) have been reduced using the same software. In comparison to the catalog, the archive has more source fluxes (fewer nulled wavelengths) and some more sources but these additions have more uncertainty associated with them. For the catalog, a source must be detected in at least 60% of the observations at that wavelength, at least 32% of the observations in an adjacent band (the confirming band), and the S/N must be greater than [5, 5, 5, 7] for IRAC bands [3.6um], [4.5um], [5.8um] and [8.0um]. The 2MASS K_s band is counted as a detection. For a typical source, extracted from 2x12 sec frametime images, the minimum detection criterion amounts to being detected twice in one band (usually band 1 or 2) and once in an adjacent band (sometimes referred to as the 2+1 criterion). For the catalog, sources with neighbors within a 2" radius are excluded (culled). For the archive, sources within a 0.5" are excluded. For more details, see Section 3.3 of the SAGE-SMC Data Delivery Document.

The SAGE-SMC pro ject is a Cycle 4 legacy program on the Spitzer Space Telescope, entitled, SAGE-SMC: Surveying the Agents of Galaxy Evolution in the Tidally-Disrupted, Low-Metallicity Small Magellanic Cloud, with Karl Gordon (STScI) as the PI. The project overview and initial results are described in a paper by Gordon et al. (2010, in prep). The SMC was mapped at two different epochs dubbed Epochs 1 and 2 separated by 3 (IRAC) and 9 (MIPS) months, as this provides a 90-degree roll angle in the orientation of the detectors, which optimally removes the striping artifacts in MIPS and artifacts along columns and rows in the IRAC image data. In addition, these two epochs are useful constraints of source variability expected for evolved stars and some young stellar ob jects (YSOs). The IRAC and MIPS observations from the S3MC pathfinder survey of the inner 3 sq. deg. of the SMC (PI: Bolatto, referred to as Epoch 0) have been reduced using the same software. To be included in each single epoch catalog, each 24 um source has to meet a number of criteria. The source had to be nearly point like with a correlation value >0.89. This removed approximately 2/3 of the entries in the single epoch source lists. In regions where there is a significant structure in the surrounding region (identified as having a sigma > 0.25 in a 120" width square box), the source had to have a correlation value >0.91. This requirement removed a small number of sources (70). Finally, all sources had to have signal-to-noise (S/N) values >5. The S/N used was that estimated from the StarFinder code using the mosaic uncertainty image added in quadrature with an 0.6% error due to the background subtraction. This removed 700 sources. The final Epoch 1 catalog likely has a few remaining unreliable sources, estimated to be at less than the 1% level. The Full List contains ALL sources extracted from the MIPS 24 um mosaics, thus a user should be aware that it contains spurious sources. For more details, see Section 4.1 of the SAGE-SMC Data Delivery Document.

The SAGE-SMC pro ject is a Cycle 4 legacy program on the Spitzer Space Telescope, entitled, SAGE-SMC: Surveying the Agents of Galaxy Evolution in the Tidally-Disrupted, Low-Metallicity Small Magellanic Cloud, with Karl Gordon (STScI) as the PI. The project overview and initial results are described in a paper by Gordon et al. (2010, in prep). The SMC was mapped at two different epochs dubbed Epochs 1 and 2 separated by 3 (IRAC) and 9 (MIPS) months, as this provides a 90-degree roll angle in the orientation of the detectors, which optimally removes the striping artifacts in MIPS and artifacts along columns and rows in the IRAC image data. In addition, these two epochs are useful constraints of source variability expected for evolved stars and some young stellar ob jects (YSOs). The IRAC and MIPS observations from the S3MC pathfinder survey of the inner 3 sq. deg. of the SMC (PI: Bolatto, referred to as Epoch 0) have been reduced using the same software. To be included in each single epoch catalog, each 24 um source has to meet a number of criteria. The source had to be nearly point like with a correlation value >0.89. This removed approximately 2/3 of the entries in the single epoch source lists. In regions where there is a significant structure in the surrounding region (identified as having a sigma > 0.25 in a 120" width square box), the source had to have a correlation value >0.91. This requirement removed a small number of sources (70). Finally, all sources had to have signal-to-noise (S/N) values >5. The S/N used was that estimated from the StarFinder code using the mosaic uncertainty image added in quadrature with an 0.6% error due to the background subtraction. This removed 700 sources. The final Epoch 1 catalog likely has a few remaining unreliable sources, estimated to be at less than the 1% level. The Full List contains ALL sources extracted from the MIPS 24 um mosaics, thus a user should be aware that it contains spurious sources. For more details, see Section 4.1 of the SAGE-SMC Data Delivery Document.

A database for the entire Markarian (First Byurakan Spectral Sky Survey or FBS) Catalog is presented that combines extensive new measurements of their optical parameters with a literature and database search. The measurements were made using images extracted from the STScI Digitized Sky Survey (DSS) of F_pg (red) and J_pg (blue) band photographic sky survey plates obtained by the Palomar and UK Schmidt telescopes. The authors provide accurate coordinates, morphological type, spectral and activity classes, red and blue apparent magnitudes, apparent diameters, axial ratios, and position angles, as well as number counts of neighboring objects in a circle of radius 50 kpc. Special attention was paid to the individual descriptions of the galaxies in the original Markarian lists, which clarified many cases of misidentifications of the objects, particularly among interacting systems, larger galaxies with knots of star formation, possible stars, and cases of stars projected on galaxies. The total number of individual Markarian objects in the database is now 1544. The authors also have included redshifts which are now available for 1524 of the objectswith UV-excess radiation, as well as Galactic color excess E(B-V) values and their 2MASS or DENIS infrared magnitudes. The table also includes extensive notes that summarize information about the membership of Markarian galaxies in different systems of galaxies and about new and revised activity classes and redshifts. The new optical information on Markarian galaxies was obtained from images extracted from the STScI Digitized Sky Survey (DSS) of F_pg (red) and J_pg (blue) band photographic sky survey plates obtained by the Palomar and UK Schmidt telescopes. This table was created by the HEASARC in November 2009 based on the electronic version of the optical database of Markarian galaxies which was obtained from the CDS (their catalog J/ApJS/170/33 file table1.dat). This is a service provided by NASA HEASARC .