Sample tables from the Hipparcos and Tycho Catalogues
Selected stars from the Hipparcos Catalogue

Guide to these tables

The first table lists results for the 150 stars closest to the Sun, as deduced from the Hipparcos parallaxes. No criterion was applied to the precision of the individual parallax determinations. The entries in the table are sorted by decreasing parallax (increasing distance).

The second table gives the results for the 150 stars with the largest total proper motions in the Hipparcos Catalogue, again without further selection on precision. The third table gives the results for the 150 stars with the largest total transverse velocity, as deduced from the Hipparcos proper motions and parallaxes. In the latter table, only stars with relative distance precision sigma_pi/pi < 0.1 were included. The entries in these tables are sorted by decreasing total proper motion and total transverse velocity, respectively.

For the table of 150 stars with the highest absolute luminosity, the selection was more delicate. Although Hipparcos has determined for each entry at least a lower limit for the distance, and consequently for the luminosity, the inclusion of stars with only such a lower limit in the table was not considered meaningful. The stars in the table meet the two following criteria: (i) relative distance precision sigma_pi/pi < 0.3; (ii) absolute magnitude M_V when computed with the 2 sigma lower distance limit 1/(pi+2 sigma_pi) smaller than -2 mag. The entries are sorted by increasing M_V, i.e. decreasing luminosity.

The fifth table lists results for the 150 stars with highest apparent magnitude. The entries in the table are sorted by decreasing brightness (increasing V magnitude).

All four tables give results for the same series of quantities. The successive fields contain:

  1. the identifier in the Hipparcos Catalogue (the HIP number, Field H1);
  2. if available, the identifier in the HD Catalogue (the HD number, Field H71);
  3. the (truncated) right ascension (alpha), in degrees (Field H8);
  4. the (truncated) declination (delta), in degrees (Field H9);
  5. the visual magnitude V (Field H5);
  6. the absolute visual magnitude, computed as M_V=V+5 log (pi)-10, with pi in milliarcsec;
  7. the trigonometric parallax (pi), in milliarcsec (Field H11);
  8. the standard error in the trigonometric parallax sigma_pi, in milliarcsec (Field H16);
  9. the relative precision of the distance sigma_pi/pi;
  10. the total proper motion |mu| in milliarcsec per year;
  11. the proper motion in right ascension (mu_alpha*) in milliarcsec per year (Field H12);
  12. the proper motion in declination (mu_delta) in milliarcsec per year (Field H13);
  13. the transverse velocity, computed as V_T = A_v |mu|/pi, in km/s;
  14. an asterisk indicating that the star is in the Catalogue of Nearby Stars, 3rd version (CNS3);
  15. the Bayer/Flamsteed name of the star (as in Volume 13); if not available, a common name (as in Volume 13); if not available, blank.

For the star with a negative parallax value, for which the proper motion value is nevertheless significant, the computed fields using the parallax (absolute magnitude, distance precision, and transverse velocity) are left blank.