1. Introduction

This work is identical in all respects with that described in this journal in relation to the catalogue of the "Stars of the southern hemisphere proposed for the Hipparcos mission" (Rousseau et al. 1996) [RPG 1996] and in the article relating to the "Astrometric positions of stars associated with nebulosities in the southern hemisphere" (Rousseau & Périé 1996) [RP 1996]. The origin of the work, observations, measuring equipment and procedures, reduction methods, the calculation of the J2000 positions, the calculation of the precision and the epoch are the same since all the objects were processed simultaneously. Out of all the stars in the programme, and included in the list drawn up by W.J. Luyten (1979) and identified by the acronym LHS, we have eliminated:

- Stars which were too bright, and thus did not allow accurate measurements to be made.
- Stars whose identification was uncertain, in spite of the use of the charts published by W.J. Luyten.
- Stars which had an FK4 identifier. These are astrometric references points whose position is already very well known.

Our list only includes stars with a declination of less than -17.5 degrees. It is not exhaustive. The precision of the coordinates is: 0.25'' in right ascension and 0.29'' in declination