A Catalog and Atlas of Cataclysmic Variables
   Ronald Downes, et. al.
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How to search the catalog


Introduction
All the fields in the catalog can be searched to identify objects, either individually or in combination. Instructions for searching each parameter are given below.

For text searches, all fields are case insensitive except for the type field, since there is a meaningful difference between ug (type confirmed in the literature) and UG (type not confirmed). Also, wildcards can be used (note that the wildcard symbol is a percent sign "%"). In most cases, you should surround your search parameter with wildcards. For example, searching on "Her" will give only those objects in Hercules with no GCVS designation. If you search on "%Her", you will get all objects in Hercules except those with the pseudo-GCVS designations (e.g. Her1) used in the previous editions. If you search on "%her%", you will get all objects in Hercules.

GCVS NAME/OTHER NAME
These are character fields which should be searched with case-insenstive text strings; only one string at a time may be used. Wildcards are permitted.
Example: 
GCVS Name                |%Aql%|                                    
Other Name               |%NSV%|                                    


COORDINATES
These are numeric fields which can be searched by entering the range of RAs and Decs desired, or by specifying a position and search radius. Note that > and < usage is not supported, and the "to" Dec must be south of the "from" Dec.
Example: 
RA (2000)          |22:32:22.51|   OR      RA (2000)   |22:32:22.51|   
to                 |23:00:25.51|           Dec (2000)  |-23:00:25.5|       
Dec (2000)         |-30:22:56.4|           Radius      | 00:01:30  | degrees
to                 |-40:10:20.2|     


PROPER MOTION
The proper motion for the object in arcseconds/yr (RA and Dec), along with the associate errors. The epoch for the coordinates is also given.

GALACTIC LATITUDE
This is a numeric field which can be seached by entering a value; note that < and > are supported.
Example:
Galactic Latitude     |>-27|                                                    


REFERENCES
These are character fields which should be searched with case-insenstive text strings; only one string at a time may be used. Wildcards are permitted. Note that for references with a ":" (description or glass-plate tracing), you must use the "%" in your search.
Examples:
Coordinate reference     |1994-10|                                 
Chart reference          |1994-%|                                 
Type reference           |%:|

Note that, when on the individual object screen, clicking on the reference code will give you the complete reference.

TYPE
This is a character field which should be searched with case-senstive text strings; only one string at a time may be used. Wildcards are permitted. Click on Type to get a listing of all valid types.
Example:
Type                     |%na%|                                     


MAGNITUDE RANGE
These are numeric fields which can be seached by entering a value; note that < and > are supported. For this search, note that ">" means BRIGHTER and "<" means FAINTER.
Example:
Magnitude min   |>17.9|
Magnitude max   |<15.2|


YEAR OF OUTBURST
This is a numeric field which can be seached by entering a value; note that < and > are supported.
Example:
Outburst year   |>1924|                                     


PERIOD
This is a numeric field which can be seached by entering a value; note that < and > are supported.
Example:
Period                   |<0.53| days                               


SPACE-BASED OBSERVATIONS
These are character fields which should be searched by clicking in the appropriate box for each observatory desired.
Example:
| |IUE  |X|HST  | |ARIEL  | |HEAO-1  | |HEAO-2  | |EXOSAT  | |ROSAT  |X|GINGA  | |ASCA  
| |EUVE


NOTES
This is a character field which should be searched with case-senstive text strings; only one string at a time may be used. Wildcards are permitted.
Example:
Notes          |%quasar%|                                                

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