Durchmusterung


Durchmusterung

(doork-mûs -tĕ-rûng) (German) an astronomical survey of the positional data of stars published in the form of a catalog. Such surveys are carried out either by sweeping successive narrow zones of the sky with a telescope and recording the position and magnitude of each star that transits the telescope's field down to a specified limiting magnitude or by analyzing wide-angle photographs taken with a Schmidt telescope or comparable instrument. See Bonner Durchmusterung; Cape Photographic Durchmusterung.