STARS OF THE RIM WORLDS GALAXY

In the Rim Worlds works Chandler frequently uses the popular names for stars (Fomalhaut, Vega, Aldeberan) as well as the formal designation when naming the spaceships of the Interstellar Transport Commission. In going through the works, I became interested in determining if it were possible to assign stellar colonies mentioned in the works to actual stars. Other diversions from the regular concordance work using this data includes looking up the star in astronomical programs (Starry Nights, for example) and surveying the range of stellar types that support colonies in the stories. (For example, there are colonies or outposts on the worlds circling numerous binaries, as well as stars that are wildly divergent from Sol.)

Key:
RW Name: The name used for either a star system, planet or ship name in A. B. Chandler’s Rim Worlds stories. (Many star designations are used for ship names by the Interstellar Transport Commission, one of the major shipping lines in the stories. Presumably – and backed up somewhat by the text – the ships are named for inhabited systems)
Alternative Name: at least one of the ‘correct’ astronomical designations of the star in question
Constellation: The night sky is divided into groups of stars (88), and every star is assigned to one of these groupings.
RA/Decl: the Right Ascension – one of the coordinates of a star, equivalent to longitude (for astronomers who want to find these stars)/Declination is the other coordinate, equivalent to latitude
Apparent Magnitude: the relative brightness of a star. The lower the number, the brighter the star appears to be to an observer
Spectral Type: The type of star based on its place on the color spectrum, which generally relates to its age and temperature
Distance: in light years
Mass: Relative to our sun (a mass of 2 would be twice as massive as the sun)
Radius: Relative to our sun
Luminosity: relative to the sun; expresses energy output
Temperature: in kelvins
Metallicity: relative to our sun, this expresses the proportion of chemicals other than hydrogen and helium making up the star
Age: in years