Faint photometric BVR_c CCD sequences ^*,**

The North galactic pole () and the anticenter (, )

¹ Osservatorio Astronomico, Strada Osservatorio 20, I-10025 Pino Torinese, Italy
² Space Telescope Science Institute, 3700 San Martin Dr., Baltimore MD 21218, U.S.A.

Send offprint request to: A. Spagna (spagna@to.astro.it)

Received: 23 May 1997
Accepted: 24 December 1997

Abstract

Lists of CCD photometric standard stars in the BVR_c system of Johnson and Cousins are presented for two regions of importance in studies of galactic structure and kinematics: one at the North galactic pole (NGP) (), and a second on the galactic equator toward the anti–center (, ). Precision of both magnitudes and colors is better than 0.05 mag down to for the NGP sample, and to for the set on the galactic plane. Accuracy is also better than 0.05 mag, as shown by comparison to standard (intrinsic) color-color diagrams. These sequences should fulfil the needs for faint reference stars in the photometric calibration of old and new large-area surveys using wide-angle photographic plates. This is the case, for example, of the new multicolor surveys of the Palomar Observatory, which uses the Oschin Schmidt telescope, and the Second Generation Southern Sky Survey, which utilizes UK Schmidt of the Anglo Australian Observatory in Siding Spring.