Otto Struve double stars

[Spence]

I found that using STT (number) will allow entering those stars in a list.

[theskyhound]

For more designations, click on the "Designation Help button on the Designation Search dialog, which lists all of the supported catalog identifies and their formats.

[Spence]

Help Contents, Search, for Otto or STT yields No topics found, but I can enter STT stars.

[theskyhound]

Ah, I now recall that the double star abbreviations used in the Washington Double Star catalog, or WDS, (such as STT) are recognized by SkyTools but treated as a special case. Because this is a special catalog, with a large number of abbreviations, I will refer double star observers to the documentation of the Washington Double Star catalog for details. With the exception of some obscure three letter designations, the vast majority should be recognized.

To get a feel for this, open the Designation Search dialog and select the Browse tab. Select Stars and then WDS Double Star ID. The WDS designations are displayed in the list on the right in alphabetical order. You can scroll through this list 1000 stars at a time by clicking the little down button to the right of the "Clr" button.

[PMSchu]

Hi Spence,

Here's what the Designation Help has to say about searching for Struve's stars:

Struve Double Star ID
There are actually several observers named Struve, but the one most commonly referred to in various articles is oficially designated as STF in the Washington Double Star catalog. So instead of typing Struve 12 into SkyTools, use STF 12. 

It looks like the prefix "STF" is the one to use.

I looked at the Database Power Search (DBPS) function to see if it could help make a list of Struve's stars, but only the WDS catalog is listed. There's no special entry for just stars that were studied by one of the Struves.

Has someone already created an Observing List (OL) of these stars for SkyTools that you can download?

SkyTools 3 had OLs with objects from Burnham's Celestial Handbook (BCH) for download on the website for each constellation. I'm not sure if those OLs are compatible with SkyTools 4;

Hope this helps.

Phil S.

[theskyhound]

There is more than one Struve designation. STT is Otto Wilhelm von Struve. STF is Friedrich Georg Wilhelm von Struve. One really needs to look at the WDS descriptions to get a feel for them. This is an historical database rather than a modern one.

[Spence]

I can follow the advice to browse WDS stars and get to STT ones. Not sure that users would know to do that, without first reading this thread. Seems that adding Otto Struve and STT to the designation help page would be best. The two Struves are listed in all of my observing guidebooks.

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I found that using STT (number) will allow entering those stars in a list.

Spence, when using the STT designation for Otto Struve double stars in SkyTools 4 Visual, do you know if the software automatically pulls in related data like separation or magnitude, or do I need to input that manually after adding them to the list?

The program pulls in the STT data. At least for the ones in the WDS sub-list.

[PMSchu]

There is more than one Struve designation. STT is Otto Wilhelm von Struve. STF is Friedrich Georg Wilhelm von Struve. One really needs to look at the WDS descriptions to get a feel for them. This is an historical database rather than a modern one.

It looks like the Help needs an update to reflect that there are multiple designations for the several Struves for the uninitiated.

Phil S.