The visual double stars observed by the Hipparcos satellite

Abstract

This paper is the introduction to the complete and correct list of all systems or individual components known in July 1997 which were observed by the Hipparcos satellite. The list concerns 18644 double or multiple systems and may be found at the CDS under reference I-260. Its format is the same as that used in the CCDM catalogue (Dommanget & Nys 1994a,b). The complete list is only available electronically via http://cdsweb.u-strasbg.fr/cgi-bin/Cat?I/260