4 Summary and conclusions

We have presented a new list of open clusters containing revised data compiled from old catalogues and from isolated papers recently published. This catalogue (Table 1a) has been developed mainly to be an efficient tool for open cluster studies since it presents all the available basic data (fundamental parameters and kinematics) in a single easy-to-use list. The catalogue is regularly updated, and the latest version is available at http://www.astro.iag.usp.br/~wilton/. An alternative list (Table 1b) with positions and proper motions in galactic coordinates is also made available. Since it is expected that the catalogue will be used in the selection of observational targets, an additional table of open clusters with available photometric data (Table 3) is also provided. Finally, Table 2 includes the references to the data used in Tables 1a and 1b.

In this edition, 1537 objects are given, of which 356 are not given in the catalogue compiled by Lyngå (1987). The new objects include 191 open cluster published in the literature, and 11 recently discovered open cluster with fundamental parameters determined by our group and yet unpublished.

Nearly all the clusters (94.7$\%$) have estimates of their apparent diameters. Distances, E(B-V) and ages are listed for 37$\%$. Concerning the data on kinematics, 18$\%$ have mean proper motions determinations, 12$\%$ mean radial velocities, and 9$\%$ have both information simultaneously. These results point out to the observers that a large effort is still needed to improve the data on kinematics. Our group is presently working in this direction.

Acknowledgements

We use data from Digitized Sky Survey which were produced at the Space Telescope Science Institute under U.S. Government grant NAG W-2166. The images of these surveys are based on photographic data obtained using the Oschin Schmidt Telescope on Palomar Mountain and the UK Schmidt Telescope. Extensive use has been made of the Simbad and WEBDA databases. This project was supported by FAPESP (grant number 99/11781-4).