The Washington Multiplicity Catalog

The Washington Multiplicity Catalog (WMC) project is an effort to address the often conflicting nomenclature schemes used by astronomers in different fields of double and multiple star research by compiling a catalog of all known binary and multiple systems then assigning a consistent (insofar as possible) component designation to each component. Components are treated in the same manner whether stellar or sub-stellar (e.g. brown dwarf exosolar planet) in nature. This effort was begun shortly before the 2000 IAU General Assembly in Manchester UK. A sample version of the planned catalog was presented at IAU Colloquium 191 held in Merida Mexico in February 2003 and a modified version of this sample will be presented at the July 2003 GA in Sydney Australia. Finally if the nomenclature and catalog format are agreed upon a full-sky version of the catalog will be created in time for the 2006 GA in Prague.