COMMISSIONS 27 AND 42 OF THE IAU
                   INFORMATION BULLETIN ON VARIABLE STARS
                                Number 3889

                                                Konkoly Observatory
                                                Budapest
                                                4 June 1993

                                                HU ISSN 0374 - 0676


                     CARD CATALOGUE OF ECLIPSING BINARIES


The Card Catalogue of Eclipsing Binaries has been described in some of the IAU
reports in recent years.  Nevertheless, it has to be emphasized as strongly as
possible that this is not a data center or archives.  For example, if one
wished to know the most reliable data such as depths of minimum for a number of
systems, one would not go to this and expect a tabulated best values.  Neither
would you send raw data here if you wished it preserved in archival form.
Actually much of this material is accessible from our catalogue, but it is in
the form of literature references.  We can supply these thus giving anyone
interested references which in some cases can reach in number several hundred
publications, and a brief summary as to the nature of the material.  The user
can then judge for himself as to the validity of the material after he has used
the references in the catalogue.  Let me emphasize again that this is not a
data center, nor is it archives.  As you know, there are several of these, some
operating under IAU sanctions, while these present quite a different approach.
The CCEB consists of a series of references to publication on eclipsing (or now
"interacting") binaries, listed in the variable star nomenclature (R CMa, SX
Cep, etc.  but also using when appropriate other naming systems VV (Vatican
Variable), HD (Henry Draper Catalogue), etc.  On each card is given the
fundamental data (position in RA and Dec, magnitude at max.  depths of primary
and secondary eclipses, duration of any total (or annular) phase when there is
one, and all the other properties one would need to know when laying out an
observing program.  Then, for each star is given all the literature references
since date of discovery.  This can be quite extensive.  Note that we try to
limit this to interacting binaries; that is, systems which show only radial
velocity changes are not included.

This catalogue has been maintained for some time.  It has been at the
University of Florida for more than 25 years and was maintained for about the
same interval at the University of Pennsylvania.  Before that it was maintained
at the Princeton University Observatory by R.S.  Dugan.  I am not certain as to
the exact date of the earliest entry but this is now at least seventy years old
and I think probably closer to ninety.  Publications have been made summarizing
chief features.  Unfortunately, since this is a major task, these have not been
as frequently as we would have liked, but they are in the astronomical
literature as publications of the Princeton Observatory, (Finding Lists) of the
Flower and Cook Observatory of the University of Pennsylvania, and most
recently of the Rosemary Hill Observatory of the University of Florida.  These
will almost certainly be available at any first rate astronomical library such
as the Naval Observatory.  

For further information you can contact either the undersigned or 
Dr. Kwan-Yu Chen.



Frank Bradshaw Wood
University of Florida
Department of Astronomy
211 Space Sciences
Research Building
Gainesville, FL 32611-2085