''Boss General Catalogue'' (''GC'', sometimes General Catalogue) is an astronomical catalogue containing 33,342

star A star is a luminous spheroid of plasma (physics), plasma held together by Self-gravitation, self-gravity. The List of nearest stars and brown dwarfs, nearest star to Earth is the Sun. Many other stars are visible to the naked eye at night sk ...

s. It was compiled by Benjamin Boss (who lived from 1880 to 1970) and published in the United States in 1936. Its original name was ''General Catalogue of 33,342 Stars'' and it superseded the previous ''Preliminary General Catalogue of 6,188 Stars for the Epoch 1900'' published in 1910 by Benjamin's father Lewis Boss.

Preliminary General Catalogue of 6,188 Stars for the Epoch 1900

This book was the predecessor of the ''Boss General Catalogue'' and was written by Lewis Boss, Benjamin Boss's father in 1910. It was a

list A list is a Set (mathematics), set of discrete items of information collected and set forth in some format for utility, entertainment, or other purposes. A list may be memorialized in any number of ways, including existing only in the mind of t ...

of the thought to be

proper motion Proper motion is the astrometric measure of changes in the apparent places of stars or other celestial objects as they move relative to the center of mass of the Solar System. It is measured relative to the distant stars or a stable referenc ...

of stars. As per the name, Lewis Boss's catalogue intended to have a successor, the role of which was taken by the ''Boss General Catalogue''. Unlike the ''Preliminary General Catalogue of 6,188 Stars for the Epoch 1900'' which only noted the

of stars'','' the ''Boss General'' ''Catalogue'' also lists the

magnitude Magnitude may refer to: Mathematics *Euclidean vector, a quantity defined by both its magnitude and its direction *Magnitude (mathematics), the relative size of an object *Norm (mathematics), a term for the size or length of a vector *Order of ...

and

spectral type In astronomy, stellar classification is the classification of stars based on their spectral characteristics. Electromagnetic radiation from the star is analyzed by splitting it with a prism or diffraction grating into a spectrum exhibiting the ...

of the catalogued stars. It was also much more thorough and complete; it included all stars brighter than magnitude seven (and some below that as well).

External links

Online version of the Catalog

References

Astronomical catalogues of stars 1910 non-fiction books 1936 non-fiction books 1930s in science 1910s in science 1936 in science 1910 in science 1900 in science {{Space-stub