Cosmic Pursuits

Basic astronomy and night sky information

double stars

Five Fall Double Stars for a Small Telescope

by Brian Ventrudo Filed Under: Deep Sky

Albireo (Beta Cygni). Image credit: Jared Smith via Flickr under Creative Commons license.

Galaxies abound in the deep sky of northern autumn and imagers and visual observers with big telescopes and dark sky have plenty of choice targets. But for us urban visual observers with smaller scopes, galaxies, despite shining with the combined light of several hundred million stars, usually look a little underwhelming. So what’s left to see? Double stars, of course! Often overlooked for flashier sights, double (and multiple) stars offer a great challenge, contrasting colours, and understated but still gasp-worthy beauty that doesn’t take long to appreciate. Here are five superb double stars for northern autumn observers that will make you a fan of these under appreciated objects, listed approximately in order of easiest to hardest to observe [Read more…] about Five Fall Double Stars for a Small Telescope

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A Trek Through Triangulum

by Brian Ventrudo Filed Under: Stargazing

The small constellation Triangulum wedged between Andromeda and Aries.

Take any three stars and they’ll form some kind of triangle. But there is only one constellation Triangulum. It’s a small but ancient star group surrounded by the larger constellations Andromeda to the north and west, Pisces to the southwest, Aries to the south, and Perseus to the northeast. While modest, Triangulum hosts many fine sights for stargazers on a northern autumn (or southern spring) evening. Look for it about 10º due south of the star Almaak (γ Andromedae) and just northeast of Aries [Read more…] about A Trek Through Triangulum

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Star Tour – Cor Caroli and “La Superba”

by Brian Ventrudo Filed Under: Deep Sky

An artist's rendering of the carbon star La Superba in the constellation Canes Venatici. Credit: Wikipedia Commons.
An artist’s rendering of the carbon star La Superba in the constellation Canes Venatici. Credit: Wikipedia Commons.

Turn your gaze to the sky under the handle of the Big Dipper and you’ll see only two reasonably bright stars. These are the 3rd-magnitude stars Cor Caroli and 4th-magnitude Chara. Cor Caroli (the “Heart of Charles”) was named by Edmund Halley after the martyred English King Charles I. It is a pretty double star, easily split in a small telescope even at 30-40x. The blue-white primary shines at magnitude 2.9; the fainter yellow companion is magnitude 5.6 some 19 arc-seconds away from the primary. The pair is about 110 light years away [Read more…] about Star Tour – Cor Caroli and “La Superba”

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Castor and Pollux

by Brian Ventrudo Filed Under: Deep Sky

Gemini is still well overhead, north and east of the constellation Orion, in the evening hours in March.
Gemini is still well overhead, north and east of the constellation Orion, in the evening hours in March. Its brightest stars are Castor and Pollux. Created with SkyX Serious Astronomer edition by Software Bisque.

Along with Taurus, Gemini is one of the two most northerly constellations of the zodiac. It lies just east of Auriga and the bright star Capella, and it’s marked by the two bright stars Castor and Pollux which lie less than 5º apart (a little less than the width of your three middle fingers held at arm’s length). To find the constellation draw an imaginary line diagonally from Rigel past Betelgeuse in the constellation Orion about a distance equal to the separation of these two bright stars. This will land you smack in the middle of Gemini. In March and April, the constellation lies still well above the western horizon in the early evening hours [Read more…] about Castor and Pollux

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The Colorful Double Star Almaak in Andromeda

by Brian Ventrudo Filed Under: Deep Sky

Almaak, a double star in the constellation Andromeda (credit: Mt. Lemmon Observatory)
Almaak, a double star in the constellation Andromeda (credit: Mt. Lemmon Observatory)

High in the northeast sky, Almaak, the third-brightest star in the constellation Andromeda, is one of the most beautiful double stars in the sky. It’s a snap to find and reveals its full splendor in even the smallest of telescopes [Read more…] about The Colorful Double Star Almaak in Andromeda

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