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Reorganized list of Object Types in SIMBAD

Last update : 11/10/2021
This new list of object types is organized in 8 sections, ordered by physical properties, and evolutionary stage for stars :

1. Taxonomy of Stars
2. Sets of Stars
3. Interstellar Medium
4. Taxonomy of Galaxies
5. Sets of Galaxies
6. Gravitation
7. General Spectral Properties
8. Blends, errors, not well defined objects

Link to the graphic view : http://simbad.u-strasbg.fr/otypes/otypes_tree.html
Link to the full ascii file including compatibilities and incompatibilities : http://simbad.u-strasbg.fr/otypes/otypes.list
Link to the prototype of the new html list (choose Table in the left upper corner) : https://simbad.cds.unistra.fr/otypes/

New Objects Types (6), between [ ] : Ma*, MS*, Ev*, BH, MIR, Opt + quite a few candidates

Unmaintained Objects Types (30), between { }, do no longer exist in Simbad :

pr* / pr? --> Y*O / Y?
FU* --> Or*
cir --> out or HH, depending on the context
ZZ*
CH* / CH? --> Pe* / Pe?
Al*, bL*, WU* --> EB* + V* measurements
NL*, DN*, DQ*, AM* --> CV* (+ V* measurements)
RI* --> Ir*
Fl* --> Er*
sr* / sv? --> LP / LP?
EP* --> *
*iC, *iA, *iN, *i* --> *
BNe --> GNe
HzG --> G (redundant with redshift value)
ERO --> G.. (often AGN)
ALS, LyA, DLA, mAL, LLS, BAL : suppressed (absorption line systems)
red : suppressed (no meaning)

Objects Types found in the literature but not existing in Simbad (...) : e.g. LBV or ULIRG, see Description & Comments columns

Columns :

Priority : priority to be the main object type in Simbad. Candidates have the priority of the confirmed type + 10
Description : will appear in the Simbad html pages instead of what we have now
Comments : how unmaintained/nonexisting object types are characterized in Simbad, criteria to ascribe rare object types, etc...

Acronyms : short-cut for long lists of object types

1. TAXONOMY OF STARS

Object type	Candidate	Priority	Description	Comments	Hierarchy
*		40	Star		***
1.1. Massive Stars and their Remnants
[Ma*]	[Ma?]	10	Massive Star	Initial mass > 8-10 Mo	Ma,bC,sg,sr,sy,sb,WR,N,Psr
bC*	[bC?]	1	beta Cep Variable		bC*
sg*	sg?	4	Evolved Supergiant	Luminosity type 0,Ia,Iab,(I). Includes A-type SG	sg,sr,sy,sb,WR*
s*r	s?r	3	Red Supergiant	SpT like K/M 0,Ia,Iab,(I)	s*r
s*y	s?y	3	Yellow Supergiant	SpT like F/G 0,Ia,Iab,(I)	s*y
s*b	s?b	3	Blue Supergiant	SpT like O/B 0,Ia,Iab,(I)	sb,WR
WR*	WR?	2	Wolf-Rayet	SpT like W, WN, WC	WR*
...			LBV, Luminous Blue Variable	Maintype = s*b and SpT like LBV
N*	N*?	2	Neutron Star		N*,Psr
Psr		1	Pulsar		Psr
1.2. Young Stellar Objects (= Pre-Main Sequence Stars)
Y*O	Y*?	10	Young Stellar Object	Pre-Main Sequence	YO,pr,Or,TT,Ae*,out,HH
...			{pr*} Pre-Main Sequence Star	= Y*O
Or*		5	Orion Variable	Includes FU Ori variables	Or*
...			{FU*} FU Ori Variable	See Or*
TT*	TT?	3	T Tauri Star	Includes classical and weak-line T Tauri	TT*
Ae*	Ae?	3	Herbig Ae/Be Star		Ae*
out	of?	12	Outflow		out,HH
HH		11	Herbig-Haro Object		HH
I.3. Main Sequence Stars
[MS*]	[MS?]	10	Main Sequence Star		MS,Be,BS,SX,gD,dS
Be*	Be?	2	Be Star		Be*
BS*	BS?	2	Blue Straggler		BS*
SX*		1	SX Phe Variable	See Pu* for candidates	SX*
gD*		1	gamma Dor Variable	See Pu* for candidates	gD*
dS*		1	delta Sct Variable	See Pu* for candidates	dS*
1.4. Evolved Stars
[Ev*]	[Ev?]	10	Evolved Star	Post-Main Sequence	Ev,RG,HS,HB,RR,WV,Ce,cC,C,S,AB,Mi,OH,pA,RV,PN,WD
RG*	RB?	5	Red Giant Branch Star		RG*
HS*	HS?	5	Hot Subdwarf	SpT like sdB, sdO	HS*
HB*	HB?	5	Horizontal Branch Star		HB,RR
RR*	RR?	1	RR Lyrae Variable		RR*
...			Red Clump Star	See HB*
WV*	[WV?]	2	Type II Cepheid Variable	Includes W Wir and BL Her subtypes	WV*
Ce*	Ce?	2	Cepheid Variable	Includes anomalous Cepheids	Ce,cC
cC*		1	Classical Cepheid Variable	delta Cep type	cC*
C*	C*?	3	Carbon Star	Mostly AGB or RGB. SpT like C,N,R C-N,C-R, or C-rich	C*
S*	S*?	3	S Star	Mostly AGB or RGB. SpT like S,SC,MS	S*
LP*	LP?	9	Long-Period Variable	AB, RG, or s*r. Includes SR, L, and OSARG	LP,Mi,RV,RC
...			{sr*} Semi-Regular Variable	Check LP* and V* measurements
AB*	AB?	5	Asymptotic Giant Branch Star		AB,Mi
Mi*	Mi?	4	Mira Variable		Mi*
...			O-rich AGB Star	Maintype = AB* and SpT like M or O-rich
OH*	OH?	3	OH/IR Star	O-rich AGB or PAGB, doubled-peaked OH maser profile	OH*
pA*	pA?	2	Post-AGB Star		pA*
RV*	RV?	1	RV Tauri Variable		RV*
PN	PN?	1	Planetary Nebula	Includes the progenitor Star when knwon	PN
WD*	WD?	5	White Dwarf	SpT like D and PG1159	WD*
...			{ZZ*} Pulsating White Dwarf	Maintype = WD, secondary type = Pu
...			ELMWD, Extremely Low Mass White Dwarf	In binaries; SpT like ELMD
1.5. Chemically Peculiar Stars
Pe*	Pe?	8	Chemically Peculiar Star	Includes metal-poor stars	Pe,a2,RC*
a2*	[a2?]	1	alpha2 CVn Variable	Ap stars; magnetic	a2*
RC*	RC?	1	R CrB Variable		RC*
...			{CH*} CH Star	Check the SpT
...			Barium Star	Check the SpT
...			Dwarf Carbon Star	Maintype = Pe* and SpT like dC
...			Carbon-Enhanced Metal Poor Star	Maintype = Pe* and SpT like CEMP
1.6. Interacting Binaries and close Common Proper Motion Systems
**	**?	39	Double or Multiple Star		**
El*	[El?]	16	Ellipsoidal Variable		El*
EB*	EB?	12	Eclipsing Binary	For more details on EA, EB, and EW subtypes, check biblio or V* measurements
...			{Al*} Eclipsing Binary of Algol type	Check biblio or V* measurements
...			{bL*}Eclipsing Binary of beta Lyr type	Check biblio or V* measurements
...			{WU*} Eclipsing Binary of W UMa type	Check biblio or V* measurements
SB*	[SB?]	11	Spectroscopic Binary		SB*
BY*	[BY?]	9	BY Dra Variable		BY*
RS*	[RS?]	1	RS CVn Variable		RS*
Sy*	Sy?	1	Symbiotic Star		Sy*
XB*	XB?	2	X-ray Binary		XB*,LXB,HXB
LXB	LX?	1	Low Mass X-ray Binary		LXB
HXB	HX?	1	High Mass X-ray Binary		HXB
CV*	CV?	3	Cataclysmic Binary		CV,No
No*	No?	4	Classical Nova		No*
			{NL*} Nova-like Binary	Check biblio or V* measurements
			{DN*} Dwarf Nova (SU UMa)	Check biblio or V* measurements
			{DQ*} CV of DQ Her type	Intermediate polar. Check biblio or V* measurements
			{AM*} CV of AM CVn type	Check biblio or V* measurements
1.7. SuperNovae
SN*	SN?	1	SuperNova		SN*
1.8. Low mass Stars and substellar Objects
LM*	LM?	2	Low-mass Star		LM,BD
BD*	BD?	1	Brown Dwarf	SpT like L,T, or Y	BD*
Pl	Pl?	1	Extra-solar Planet		Pl
1.9. Properties : variability, spectral, kinematic, or environment
V*	{V*?}	30	Variable Star		AVS
Ir*		29	Irregular Variable	Includes rapid Ir*	Ir*
...			{RI*} Irregular Variable with rapid variations	Check biblio or V* measurements
Er*	[Er?]	20	Eruptive Variable		Er,Or,RC,RS
...			{Fl*} Flare Star	See Er*
Ro*	[Ro?]	28	Rotating Variable		Ro,a2,BY,El
Pu*	[Pu*]	27	Pulsating Variable	Non LPV Pulsating Star	Pu,SX,gD,dS,RR,WV,Ce,cC
...			{EP*} Star showing Eclipses by its Planet	See EB* and V* measurements
Em*		21	Emission-line Star	Can be sg, YSO, Be, AB, Sy, etc...	Em*
PM*		25	High Proper Motion Star	Total proper motion >= 50 mas/yr	PM*
HV*		24	High Velocity Star		HV*
...			{*iC} Star towards a Cluster	Check hierarchical links
...			{*iA} Star towards an Association	Check hierarchical links
...			{*iN} Star towards a Nebula	Check hierarchical links
...			{i} Star in double system	Check hierarchical links

2. SETS OF STARS

Object type	Candidate	Priority	Description	Hierarchy
Cl*	C?*	2	Cluster of Stars	Cl*,GlC,OpC
GlC	Gl?	1	Globular Cluster	GlC
OpC		1	Open Cluster	OpC
As*	As?	2	Association of Stars	As,St,MGr
St*		1	Stellar Stream	St*
MGr		1	Moving Group	MGr

3. INTERSTELLAR MEDIUM

Object type	Candidate	Priority	Description	Comments	Hierarchy
ISM		50	Interstellar Medium Object		AIM
SFR		33	Star Forming Region		SFR
HII		32	HII Region		HII
Cld		34	Cloud		Cld,GNe,RNe,MoC,DNe,glb,HVC
GNe		37	Nebula		Gne,RNe
...			{BNe} Bright Nebula
RNe		35	Reflection Nebula		RNe
MoC		38	Molecular Cloud		MoC
DNe		39	Dark Cloud (nebula)		DNe
glb		40	Globule (low-mass dark cloud)		glb
CGb		41	Cometary Globule / Pillar		CGb
HVC		42	High-velocity Cloud	Vlsr > ~90 km/s	HVC
cor		30	Dense Core	N(H) > ~1D23 at/cm2, or detection of NH3,HCN,CS,HCO,..	cor
bub		31	Bubble		bub
SNR	SR?	43	SuperNova Remnant		SNR
sh		44	Interstellar Shell		sh
flt		44	Interstellar Filament		flt

4. TAXONOMY OF GALAXIES

Object type	Candidate	Priority	Description	Comments	Hierarchy
G	G?	40	Galaxy		GGG
LSB		10	Low Surface Brightness Galaxy		LSB
bCG		11	Blue Compact Galaxy		bCG
SBG		12	Starburst Galaxy		SBG
H2G		14	HII Galaxy		H2G
EmG		13	Emission-line galaxy		EmG
AGN	AG?	9	Active Galaxy Nucleus		AGN,SyG,Sy1,Sy2,rG,LIN,QSO,Bla,BLL
SyG		3	Seyfert Galaxy		SyG,Sy1,Sy2
Sy1		2	Seyfert 1 Galaxy		Sy1
Sy2		1	Seyfert 2 Galaxy		Sy2
rG		8	Radio Galaxy		rG
LIN		7	LINER-type Active Galaxy Nucleus		LIN
QSO	Q?	6	Quasi Stellar Object, Quasar		QSO,Bla,BLL
Bla	Bz?	5	Blazar		Bla,BLL
BLL	BL?	4	BL Lac		BLL
...			{HzG} Galaxy with high redshift	Redundant with the redshift value
...			{ERO} ERO/VRO, Extremely/Very Red Object	Check biblio or SED
...			ULIRG, Ultra Luninous Infrared Galaxy	Check biblio or SED
...			{, LyA, DLA, mAL, LLS, BAL} Absorption Line System	Check biblio on the QSO
Environment properties
GiP		15	Galaxy in Pair of Galaxies		GiP
GiG		18	Galaxy towards a Group of Galaxies	Check hierarchical links	GiG
GiC		17	Galaxy towards a Cluster of Galaxies	Check hierarchical links	GiC,BiC
BiC		16	Brightest Galaxy in a Cluster (BCG)		BiC

5. SETS OF GALAXIES

Object type	Candidate	Priority	Description	Hierarchy
IG		35	Interacting Galaxies	IG
PaG		36	Pair of Galaxies	PaG
GrG	Gr?	38	Group of Galaxies	GrG,CGG
CGG		37	Compact Group of Galaxies	CGG
ClG	C?G	39	Cluster of Galaxies	ClG
SCG	SC?	31	Supercluster of Galaxies	SCG
vid		1	Underdense Region of the Universe	vid

6. GRAVITATION

Object type	Candidate	Priority	Description	Hierarchy
grv		42	Gravitational Source	grv,Lev,gLs,gLe,LeI,LeG,LeQ,BH,GWE
Lev		41	(Micro)Lensing Event	Lev
gLS	LS?	40	Gravitational Lens System (lens+images)	gLS,gLe,LeI,LeG,LeQ
gLe	Le?	39	Gravitational Lens	gLe
LeI	LI?	38	Gravitationally Lensed Image	LeI,LeG,LeQ
LeG		37	Gravitationally Lensed Image of a Galaxy	LeG
LeQ		36	Gravitationally Lensed Image of a Quasar	LeQ
[BH ]	BH?	40	Black Hole	BH
GWE		1	Gravitational Wave Event	GWE

7. GENERAL SPECTRAL PROPERTIES

Object type	Candidate	Priority	Description	Comments	Hierarchy
ev		90	Transient Event	At any wavelenght	ev
Rad		63	Radio Source		Rad,mR,cm,mm,smm,HI,rB,Mas
mR		62	Metric Radio Source		mR
cm		61	Centimetric Radio Source		cm
mm		60	Millimetric Radio Source		mm
smm		59	Sub-Millimetric Source		smm
HI		58	HI (21cm) Source		HI
rB		55	Radio Burst		rB
Mas		54	Maser		Mas
IR		68	Infra-Red Source		IR,FIR,MIR,NIR,red
FIR		67	Far-IR source (λ >= 30 µm)	e.g. IRAS 60/100, AKARI-FIS, Hershel	FIR
[MIR]		66	Mid-IR Source (3 to 30 µm)	e.g. IRAS 12/25, MSX, AKARI-IRC, WISE, Spitzer-IRAC-MIPS	MIR
NIR		65	Near-IR Source (λ < 3 µm)	JHK, e.g. 2MASS, UKIDSS, ...	NIR
...			{red} Very Red Source
[Opt]		69	Optical Source	Corresponding to UBVRI range	Opt,EmO,blu
EmO		51	Emission Object	Mostly YSO, Em, PNe, WR, Sy*, AGN, QSO	EmO
blu		50	Blue Object	Mostly WD, HS, blue HB*, QSO	blu
UV		64	UV-emission Source		UV
X		57	X-ray Source		X,ULX
ULX	UX?	52	Ultra-luminous X-ray Source		ULX
gam		56	Gamma-ray Source		gam,gB
gB		53	Gamma-ray Burst		gB

8. BLENDS, ERRORS, NOT WELL DEFINED OBJECTS

Object type	Priority	Description	Hierarchy
mul	1	Composite Object, Blend	mul
err	1	Not an Object (Error, Artefact, ...)	err
PoC	90	Part of Cloud	PoC
PoG	90	Part of a Galaxy	PoG
?	99	Object of Unknown Nature	?
reg	98	Region defined in the Sky	reg

*** = *,Ma*,bC*,sg*,s*r,s*y,s*b,WR*,N*,Psr,Y*O,pr*,Or*,TT*,Ae*,out,HH,MS*,Be*,BS*,SX*,gD*,dS*,Ev*,RG*,HS*,HB*,RR*,WV*,Ce*,cC*,C*,S*,AB*,Mi*,OH*,pA*,RV*,PN,WD*,Pe*,a2*,RC*,**,El*,EB*,Al*,bL*,WU*,SB*,BY*,RS*,Sy*,XB*,LXB,HXB,CV*,No*,NL*,DN*,DQ*,AM*,SN*,LM*,BD*,V*,Ir*,Er*,Ro*,Pu*,LP*,Em*,PM* ,HV*,HV*,*iC,*iA,*iN