The Pulkovo catalog of 284 positions of Pluto in 1930 - 1994 based on observations from three observatories.

Abstract

A unique data archive of measurements and reduced positions of Pluto for the period from 1930 to 1994 has been collected from a new reduction of all photographic observations of Pluto obtained by Pulkovo astronomers. All 250 plates taken with the Pulkovo Normal astrograph were remeasured in 1993-1994. These measurements form data files that can be converted to the system of any reference catalog. On each plate, 25 to 40 reference stars of 10-13 mag were measured, and most of them are in the HIPPARCOS catalog. At present, the catalog of photographic coordinates contains 212 positions of Pluto from 1930 to 1994, calculated in the FK5 reference frame via the PPM catalog. All positions are given with their O-U residuals relative to the JPL DE200 ephemeris. In addition, 32 plates with Pluto were obtained with the Schmidt telescope in Baldone, Latvia, and reduced at Pulkovo. The archive also contains results of measurements and 17 positions of Pluto based on plates taken with the Zeiss-400 telescope at the Kazan astronomical station in N. Arkhyz between 1985 and 1994. (Abstract only).