The 2001 US Naval Observatory Double Star CD-ROM. II. The Fifth Catalog of Orbits of Visual Binary Stars

The Fifth Catalog of Orbits of Visual Binary Stars continues the series of compilations of visual binary star orbits published by Finsen, Worley, and Heintz from the 1930s to the 1980s. As of 2001 January 1, the new catalog includes 1465 orbits of 1430 systems. All orbits have been graded as in earlier catalogs, although the grading scheme has been modified to be more objective. Ephemerides are given for all orbits, as are plots including all associated data in the Washington Double Star 2001.0 database. A subset of orbits useful for scale calibration is also presented. This catalog is one of four USNO double star catalogs to be included on a new CD-ROM.