W1J00 and W2J00: Results of the Observations made with the Six-inch Transit Circle 1977-1982 AND Results of Pole-to-Pole Observations made with the Six-inch and Seven-inch Transit Circles 1985-1996

TL;DR

This paper presents the final results from the US Naval Observatory's transit circle observations, providing star and solar system object positions from 1977-1996, marking the end of these instruments' operational use.

Contribution

It offers comprehensive star catalogs W1J00 and W2J00 with high-precision positions, representing the culmination of decades of transit circle observational data.

Findings

Star position errors are approximately 75-100 mas.

Catalogs include over 44,000 stars and thousands of solar system observations.

Data covers observations from 1977 to 1996.

Abstract

The astronomical results contained in this publication represent a continuation of previous work of the United States Naval Observatory Six-inch and Seven-inch transit circles. The results are also the last from United States Naval Observatory transit circles, since those instruments are no longer in service. For the W1J00, we present the results of observations made with the Six-inch Transit Circle in Washington, D.C., between September 1977 and July 1982. The catalog, called W1J00, contains mean positions of 7267 stars, all but five are north of -30 degrees declination, and 4383 observations of solar system objects. Positions of stars are for mean epoch of observation, on equator and equinox J2000.0. Positions of solar system objects are apparent places. Error estimates are about 100 mas per coordinate for the majority of stars. For the W2J00, we present the results of observations made with the Six-inch Transit Circle in Washington, D.C. and the Seven-inch Transit Circle at the Black Birch station near Blenheim, New Zealand between April 1985 and February 1996. The catalog, called W2J00, contains mean positions of 44,395 globally distributed stars, 5048 observations of the planets, and 6518 observations of the brighter minor planets. Positions of stars are for mean epoch of observation, on equator and equinox J2000.0. Positions of solar system objects are apparent places. Error estimates are about 75 mas per coordinate for the majority of stars.