TheCatalogue of Fundamental Stars is a series of sixastrometric catalogues of high precision positional data for a small selection ofstars to define a celestialreference frame, which is a standard coordinate system for measuring positions of stars.
The six volumes in the fundamental catalogue series are as follows:
TheFundamental-Catalog (FC) was compiled byAuwers and published in two volumes. The first volume, published in 1879, contains 539 stars. The second volume, published in 1883, contains 83 stars from the southern sky.[1]
TheNeuer Fundamentalkatalog (NFK) was compiled by J. Peters and contained 925 stars.[1]
TheThird Fundamental Catalogue (FK3) was compiled byKopff and published in 1937, with a supplement in 1938.[1]
TheFourth Fundamental Catalogue (FK4) was published in 1963, and contained 1,535 stars in various equinoxes from 1950.0.
TheFourth Fundamental Catalogue's Supplement (FK4S) was an amendment to FK4 that contains a further 1,987 stars.[1]
TheFifth Fundamental Catalogue (FK5) was a 1988 update of FK4 with new positions for the 1,535 stars. It was superseded by thequasar-basedInternational Celestial Reference Frame (ICRF).
TheFifth Fundamental Catalogue Extension (FK5), published in 1991, added 3,117 new stars.
TheSixth Fundamental Catalogue (FK6) is a 2000 update of FK5 correlated with the ICRF through theHipparcos satellite. It comes in two parts: FK6(I) and FK6(III). FK6(I) contains 878 stars, and FK6(III) contains 3,272 stars. Both are updated and amended versions of FK5 usingHipparcos Catalogue data.[2][3]