[Capella]

Astronomical League's Double Star List

by John Wagoner, Texas Astronomical Society of Dallas

 

 

Introduction

Welcome to the Astronomical League's Double Star Club. The purpose of the Double Star Club is to introduce observers to 100 of the finest double and multiple stars in the heavens. You don't need a large, expensive apochromatic refractor to view the objects on this list since a small refractor, Newtonian reflector, or Schmidt-Cassegrain will do just fine. All objects on this list were observed with a three inch refractor using between 75X and 150X. Again, this program is meant to allow you to enjoy a different aspect of our wonderful hobby, and not to test your equipment.

Double star observing can be very forgiving. You don't need the darkest skies, the clearest skies, or even a moonless night to observe many of these objects. Some can be observed from your backyard under moderate light pollution, some can be observed under less than transparent skies, and some can even be observed with the moon up. However, as usual in astronomy, the best results can be obtained under optimum conditions. The point is, always try for the best conditions, but if you don't have them, don't worry about it. You can still enjoy this program.

Rules and Regulations

To qualify for the AL's Double Star Certificate and pin, you need only be a member of the Astronomical League, either through an affiliated club or as a Member-at-Large, and observe the 100 selected objects on the included list. Any telescope may be used, but one with an objective 60 mm in diameter or larger is recommended. To record your observations, you may use the log sheet provided, or one with similar information. If you use your own log sheets, they should include: object, date, time, power, seeing, instrument, and a drawing of the double or multiple system. Yes, I said a drawing of the double star. Now, before you panic, how hard is it to draw two dots in the box provided, with the size of the dot indicating magnitude, and the distance between the dots representing separation? I have given you a line for a description, but this is optional and not required. I have included this so that if you are inspired by any one double star, you can write your thoughts or feelings down for later reference.

If you need to become a member of the Astronomical League as a Member-at-Large, contact Linda Sensenig, M.A.L. Chairperson, 345 Douglass St., Wyomissing, Pa. 19610, (215) 375-9062.

To receive your Double Star Certificate and pin, simply send your observations along with your name, address, phone number, and club affiliation, either to your club's Awards Coordinator for verification, or to: John Wagoner, A.L. Binocular Coordinator, 1409 Sequoia Dr., Plano, TX. 75023, (214) 422-1886. Upon verification of your observations, your certificate and pin will be forwarded either to you or your club's Awards Coordinator, whomever you choose.

The List

All objects are listed in Right Ascension order so that you can view them as they rise, and so that you can properly plan your observing sessions to make the most of your time. Information provided on each object includes: a check box, object to be observed, Right Ascension, Declination, magnitudes of the component stars, separation, and position angle from the primary star in the double or multiple system. When listing the object to be observed, I have given the proper constellation name rather than use the traditional possessive name to simplify things. I realize that 100 objects out of many thousands in the heavens are only a small representation of what can be seen, and I have probably missed a few of your favorite doubles. If so, let me know which objects you recommend, and if there is enough interest, then just maybe we will have a second double star club. Until then, good luck, clear skies, and good observing.

Plano, TX. - May 1, 1995

 

OBJECT

SAO

NAME

RA

DEC

MAGS

SEP

PA

Eta Cassiopeiae

21732

Achird

00h 49.1m

+57° 49'

3.4, 7.5

12"

307°

65 Piscium

74295

-

00h 49.9m

+27° 43'

6.3, 6.3

4.4"

297°

Psi 1 Piscium

74482

-

01h 05.6m

+21° 28'

5.6, 5.8

30"

159°

Zeta Piscium

109739

-

01h 13.7m

+07° 35'

5.6, 6.5

23"

63°

Gamma Arietis

92680

Mesarthim

01h 53.5m

+19° 18'

4.8, 4.8

7.8"

0°

Lambda Arietis

75051

-

01h 57.9m

+23° 36'

4.9, 7.7

37"

46°

Alpha Piscium

110291

Al Rischa

02h 02.0m

+02° 46'

4.2, 5.1

1.7"

50°

Gamma Andromedae

37734

Almach

02h 03.9m

+42° 20'

2.3, 5.5

9.8"

63°

Iota Trianguli

55347

-

02h 12.4m

+30° 18'

5.3, 6.9

3.9"

71°

Alpha Ursae Minoris

15384

Polaris

02h 31.8m

+89° 16'

2.0, 9.0

18.4"

218°

Gamma Ceti

110707

Kaffaljidhma

02h 43.3m

+03° 14'

3.5, 7.3

2.8"

294°

Eta Persei

23655

Miram

02h 50.7m

+55° 54'

3.8, 8.5

28.3"

300°

Struve 331

23763

-

03h 00.9m

+52° 21'

5.3, 6.7

12.1"

85°

32 Eridani

130805

-

03h 54.3m

-02° 57'

4.8, 6.1

6.8"

347°

Chi Tauri

76573

-

04h 22.6m

+25° 38'

5.5, 7.6

19.4"

24°

1 Camelopardalis

24672

-

04h 32.0m

+53° 55'

5.7, 6.8

10.3"

308°

55 Eridani

131442

-

04h 43.6m

-08° 48'

6.7, 6.8

9.2"

317°

Beta Orionis

131907

Rigel

05h 14.5m

-08° 12'

0.1, 6.8

9.5"

202°

118 Tauri

77201

-

05h 29.3m

+25° 09'

5.8, 6.6

4.8"

204°

Delta Orionis

132220

Mintaka

05h 32.0m

-00° 18'

2.2, 6.3

52.6"

359°

Struve 747

132298

-

05h 35.0m

-06° 00'

4.8, 5.7

35.7"

223°

Lambda Orionis

112921

Meissa

05h 35.1m

+09° 56'

3.6, 5.5

4.4"

43°

Theta 1 Orionis

-

Trapezium

05h 35.3m

-05° 23'

6.7, 7.9, 5.1, 6.7

8.8", 13", 21.5"

31°, 132°, 96°

Iota Orionis

132323

Nair al Saif

05h 35.4m

-05° 55'

2.8, 6.9

11.3"

141°

Theta 2 Orionis

132322

-

05h 35.4m

-05° 25'

5.2, 6.5

52"

92°

Sigma Orionis

132406

-

05h 38.7m

-02° 36'

4.0, 7.5, 6.5

12.9", 43"

84°, 61°

Zeta Orionis

132444

Alnitak

05h 40.8m

-01° 57'

1.9, 4.0, 9.9

2.4", 58"

162°, 10°

Gamma Leporis

170759

-

05h 44.5m

-22° 27'

3.7, 6.3

96"

350°

Theta Aurigae

58636

-

05h 59.7m

+37° 13'

2.6, 7.1

3.6"

313°

Epsilon Monocerotis

113810

-

06h 23.8m

+04° 36'

4.5, 6.5

13.4"

27°

Beta Monocerotis

133316

-

06h 28.8m

-07° 02'

4.7, 5.2

7.3"

132°

12 Lyncis

25939

-

06h 46.2m

+59° 27'

5.4, 7.3

8.7"

308°

Epsilon Canis Majoris

172676

Adhara

06h 58.6m

-28° 58'

1.5, 7.4

7.5"

161°

Delta Geminorum

79294

Wasat

07h 20.1m

+21° 59'

3.5, 8.2

6.8"

211°

19 Lyncis

26311

-

07h 22.9m

+55° 17'

5.6, 6.5

14.8"

315°

Alpha Geminorum

60198

Castor

07h 34.6m

+31° 53'

1.9, 2.9

2.2"

171°

Kappa Puppis

174198

-

07h 38.8m

-26° 48'

4.5, 4.7

9.9"

318°

Zeta Cancri

97645

-

08h 12.2m

+17° 39'

5.6, 6.0

5.9"

89°

Iota Cancri

80415

-

08h 46.7m

+28° 46'

4.2, 6.6

30"

307°

38 Lyncis

61391

-

09h 18.8m

+36° 48'

3.9, 6.6

2.7"

229°

Alpha Leonis

98967

Regulus

10h 08.4m

+11° 58'

1.4, 7.7

177"

307°

Gamma Leonis

81298

Algieba

10h 20.0m

+19° 51'

2.2, 3.5

4.4"

122°

54 Leonis

81583

-

10h 55.6m

+24° 45'

4.5, 6.3

6.5"

110°

N Hydrae

179967

-

11h 32.3m

-29° 16'

5.8. 5.9

9.2"

210°

Delta Corvi

157323

Algorah

12h 29.9m

-16° 31'

3.0, 9.2

24.2"

214°

24 Comae Berenices

100160

-

12h 35.1m

+18° 23'

5.2, 6.7

20.3"

271°

Gamma Virginis

138917

Porrima

12h 41.7m

-01° 27'

3.5, 3.5

3.6"

293°

32 Camelopardalis

2101

-

12h 49.2m

+83° 25'

5.3, 5.8

21.6'

326°

Alpha Canum Venaticorum

63256

Cor Caroli

12h 56.0m

+38° 19'

2.9, 5.5

19.4"

229°

Zeta Ursae Majoris

28737

Mizar

13h 23.9m

+54° 56'

2.3, 4.0, 4.0

14.4", 709"

152°, 71°

Kappa Bootis

29045

-

14h 13.5m

+51° 47'

4.6, 6.6

13.4"

236°

Iota Bootis

29071

-

14h 16.2m

+51° 22'

4.9, 7.5

38"

33°

Pi Bootis

101138

-

14h 40.7m

+16° 25'

4.9, 5.8

5.6"

108°

Epsilon Bootis

83500

Izar

14h 45.0m

+27° 04'

2.5, 4.9

2.8"

339°

Alpha Librae

158836

Zuben El Genubi

14h 50.9m

-16° 02'

2.8, 5.2

231"

314°

Xi Bootis

101250

-

14h 51.4m

+19° 06'

4.7, 7.0

6.9"

332°

Delta Bootis

64589

Alrakis

15h 15.5m

+33° 19'

3.5, 8.7

105"

79°

Mu Bootis

64686

-

15h 24.5m

+37° 23'

4.3, 7.0

108"

171°

Delta Serpentis

101623

-

15h 34.5m

+10° 32'

4.2, 5.2

3.9"

178°

Zeta Coronae Borealis

64833

-

15h 39.4m

+36° 38'

5.1, 6.0

6.3"

305°

Xi Scorpii

159665

-

16h 04.4m

-11° 22'

4.8, 7.3

7.6"

51°

Struve 1999

159670

-

16h 04.4m

-11° 27'

7.4, 8.1

11.6"

99°

Beta Scorpii

159682

Graffias

16h 05.4m

-19° 48'

2.6, 4.9

13.6"

21°

Kappa Herculis

101951

-

16h 08.1m

+17° 03'

5.3, 6.5

28"

12°

Nu Scorpii

159763

-

16h 12.0m

-19° 28'

4.3, 6.4

41"

337°

Sigma Coronae Borealis

65165

-

16h 14.7m

+33° 52'

5.6, 6.6

6.2"

233°

16 / 17 Draconis

30012

-

16h 36.2m

+52° 55'

5.4, 6.4, 5.5

3.4", 90"

108°, 194°

Mu Draconis

30239

-

17h 05.3m

+54° 28'

5.7, 5.7

2.0"

42°

Alpha Herculis

102680

Ras Algethi

17h 14.6m

+14° 23'

3.5, 5.4

4.7"

107°

Delta Herculis

84951

Sarin

17h 15.0m

+24° 50'

3.1, 8.2

8.9"

236°

36 Ophiuchi

185199

-

17h 15.3m

-26° 36'

5.1, 5.1

4.4"

154°

Omicron Ophiuchi

122387

-

17h 18.0m

-24° 17'

5.4, 6.9

10.3"

355°

Rho Herculis

66000

-

17h 23.7m

+37° 09'

4.6, 5.6

4.1"

316°

Nu Draconis

30447

Kuma

17h 32.2m

+55° 11'

4.9, 4.9

62"

312°

Psi Draconis

8890

-

17h 41.9m

+72° 09'

4.9, 6.1

30.3"

15°

40 / 41 Draconis

8994

-

18h 00.2m

+80° 00'

5.7, 6.1

19.3"

232°

95 Herculis

85647

-

18h 01.5m

+21° 36'

5.0, 5.1

6.3"

258°

70 Ophiuchi

123107

-

18h 05.5m

+02° 30'

4.2, 6.0

2.8"

72°

Epsilon Lyrae

67310

Double Double

18h 44.3m

+39° 40'

5.0, 6.1, 5.2, 5.5

208", 2.6", 2.3"

357°, 94°, 173°

Zeta Lyrae

67321

-

18h 44.8m

+37° 36'

4.3, 5.9

44"

150°

Beta Lyrae

67451

Sheliak

18h 50.1m

+33° 22'

3.4, 8.6

46"

149°

Struve 2404

104170

-

18h 50.8m

+10° 59'

6.9, 8.1

3.6"

183°

Otto Struve 525

67566

-

18h 54.9m

+33° 58'

6.0, 7.7

45"

350°

Theta Serpentis

124068

Alya

18h 56.2m

+04° 12'

4.5, 5.4

22.3"

104°

Beta Cygni

87301

Albireo

19h 30.7m

+27° 58'

3.1, 5.1

34.4"

54°

57 Aquilae

143898

-

19h 54.6m

-08° 14'

5.8, 6.5

36"

170°

31 Cygni

49337

-

20h 13.6m

+46° 44'

3.8, 6.7, 4.8

107", 337"

173°, 323°

Alpha Capricorni

163422

Al Giedi

20h 18.1m

-12° 33'

3.6, 4.2

378"

29°

Beta Capricorni

163481

Dabih

20h 21.0m

-14° 47'

3.4, 6.2

206"

267°

Gamma Delphini

106475

-

20h 46.7m

+16° 07'

4.5, 5.5

9.6"

268°

61 Cygni

70919

-

21h 06.9m

+38° 45'

5.2, 6.0

28"

146°

Beta Cephei

10057

Alfirk

21h 28.7m

+70° 34'

3.2, 7.9

13.3"

249°

Struve 2816

33626

-

21h 39.0m

+57° 29'

5.6, 7.7, 7.8

11.7", 20"

121°, 339°

Epsilon Pegasi

127029

Enif

21h 44.2m

+09° 52'

2.4, 8.4

142"

320°

Xi Cephei

19827

Kurhah

22h 03.8m

+64° 38'

4.4, 6.5

7.7"

277°

Zeta Aquarii

146107

-

22h 28.8m

-00° 01'

4.3, 4.5

1.8"

266°

Delta Cephei

34508

-

22h 29.2m

+58° 25'

3.9, 6.3

191.9"

192°

8 Lacertae

72509

-

22h 35.9m

+39° 38'

5.7, 6.5

22.4"

186°

94 Aquarii

165625

-

23h 19.1m

-13° 28'

5.3, 7.3

12.7"

350°

Sigma Cassiopeiae

35947

-

23h 59.0m

+55° 45'

5.0, 7.1

3"

326°