PGC2003 - Principal Galaxy Catalog (PGC) 2003

Overview

The Principal Galaxy Catalog, 2003 Version (PGC2003) is a new catalog of principal galaxies. It constitutes the framework of the HYPERLEDA database that supersedes the LEDA one, with more data and more capabilities. The catalog is still restricted to confirmed galaxies, i.e. about one million galaxies, brighter than a B-magnitude of ~18.

In order to provide the best possible identification for each galaxy, the authors give accurate coordinates (typical accuracy of better than 2 arcseconds), diameters, axis ratios and position angles. Diameters and axis ratios have been homogenized to the RC2 system at the limiting surface brightness of 25 B-mag/arcsec², using a new method (EPIDEMIC).

In order to provide the best designation for each galaxy, the authors have collected names from 50 catalogs. The compatibility of the spelling has been tested against NED and SIMBAD, and, as far as possible a spelling is used that is compatible with both. For some cases, where no consensus exists between NED, SIMBAD and LEDA, the authors have proposed some changes that could make the spelling of names fully compatible.

The full catalog is distributed through the CDS and can be extracted from HYPERLEDA, http://leda.univ-lyon1.fr/.

Catalog Bibcode

2003A&A...412...45P

References

HYPERLEDA. I. Identification and designation of galaxies.
    Paturel G., Petit C., Prugniel P., Theureau G., Rousseau J., Brouty M.,
    Dubois P., Cambresy L.
   <Astron. Astrophys. 412, 45 (2003)>
   =2003A&A...412...45P

Provenance

This table was created by the HEASARC in July 2004 based on the CDS catalog VII/237 file pgc.dat.gz.

HEASARC Implementation

The HEASARC has made some minor, essentially cosmetic changes compared to the CDS version of this catalog:

(i) The names have had a blank space inserted between the PGC prefix and the numeric string, and leading zeroes have been dropped, in order to improve legibility: thus, the galaxy rendered as PGC0520795 in the CDS table is given as PGC 520795 here.

(ii) Missing values were represented as "9.99" or "999." in the CDS version, whereas they are herein represented as nulls.

(iii) Up to 12 alternate names for a PGC2003 object are given in the CDS version of this catalog. Because the vast majority of objects, however, have either 0 or 1 alternate names, in order to save space the HEASARC table lists only the first 4 alternate names.

Parameters

Name
The PGC2003 (HYPERLEDA) Source Designation. Notice that the HEASARC has inserted a blank space between the PGC prefix and the numeric string in the name, and dropped any leading zeroes in the latter, in order to improve legibility: thus, the galaxy rendered as PGC0520795 in the CDS table is given as PGC 520795 here.

RA
The Right Ascension of the galaxy in the selected equinox. This was given in J2000 coordinates and to a precision of 0.1 seconds of time in the original catalog.

Dec
The Declination of the galaxy in the selected equinox. This was given in J2000 coordinates and to a precision of 1 arcsecond in the original catalog.

LII
The Galactic Longitude of the galaxy. This parameter was added by the HEASARC and calculated from the given J2000 position.

BII
The Galactic Latitude of the galaxy. This parameter was added by the HEASARC and calculated from the given J2000 position.

Object_Type
The object type, where "G" is used for a galaxy, "M" for a multiple system, and "GM" for a galaxy in a multiple system.

Morph_Type
The provisional morphological type from LEDA, according to the RC2 code.

Apparent_Diam
The apparent diameter of the galaxy on a log scale in units of 0.1 arcminutes, converted to the RC3 system at a surface brightness of 25 B-magnitude per square arcsecond.

Apparent_Diam_Error
The actual error in the (log of the) apparent diameter, in units of 0.1 arcminutes.

Log_Axis_Ratio
The axis ratio of the galaxy on a log scale, i.e., the log of the major axis to the minor axis.

Log_Axis_Ratio_Error
The actual error in the logarithm of the axis ratio.

Position_Angle
The adopted 1950-position angle, in degrees, of the major axis, measured from the North to the East. This parameter has values ranging from 0 to 180 degrees. A few values which are exactly equal to zero are taken as 180 degrees.

Position_Angle_Error
The rms uncertainty in the position angle, in degrees.

Number_Alt_Names
The number of alternate names for the galaxy. Up to 12 alternate names for a PGC2003 object are given in the CDS version of this catalog. Because the vast majority of objects, however, have either 0 or 1 alternate names, in order to save space this HEASARC representation of the table lists only the first 4 alternate names. Names that correspond to a multiple system are written in parentheses. 151 Names that do not agree with NED identification have been written with a question mark (?). 677 names that have been moved from one galaxy to another since the first PGC1989 catalog have been written with an exclamation point (!).

Alt_Name_1
The first alternate name for the galaxy.

Alt_Name_2
The second alternate name for the galaxy.

Alt_Name_3
The third alternate name for the galaxy.

Alt_Name_4
The fourth alternate name for the galaxy.

Contact Person

Questions regarding the PGC2003 database table can be addressed to the HEASARC Help Desk.

Page Author: Browse Software Development Team
Last Modified: Monday, 16-Sep-2024 17:32:56 EDT