Highly accurate energies and other bound state properties of the negatively charged hydrogen ions, H-1(-), D-, T-, and H-infinity(-), are presented. The computed expectation values include the electron-nucleus and electron-electron delta-functions and cusp values, triple delta-functions and some other geometrical and kinematical properties. All variational energies and bound state properties determined in this study are significantly more accurate than results known from earlier computations in the literature. In particular, the total energies obtained in this study are -0.527 751 016 544 377 196 566 8 a.u. (the H-infinity(-) ion), -0.527 649 048 202 999 950 354 0 a.u. (the T- ion), -0.527 598 324 686 477 854 280 5 a.u. (the D- ion) and -0.527 445 881 114 178 893 391 1 a.u. (the H-1(-) ion). The method used in this study is a fully nonadiabatic variational approach. A few important astrophysical applications are discussed for the H- ions, including their photodetachment. (C) 2003 American Institute of Physics.