There are more binary stars visible in the night sky than there are single stars, and there are enormous numbers of wide, faint pairs under-observed or not observed at all - professional astronomers just don't have the available time to study them. This is where amateur astronomers can help. Bob Argyle, a professional astronomer at Cambridge University, shows where enthusiastic amateur observers can best direct their efforts. The book caters for the use of every level of equipment, from simple commercial telescopes to micrometers and CCD cameras. Amateur astronomers who have gone beyond "sight-seeing" and want to make a genuine scientific contribution will find this a fascinating and rewarding field - and this book provides all the background and practical information that's needed.

Klappentext

From the reviews:

"I recommend it to anyone with an interest in binary stars who wants to learn more about these fascinating objects." (Jocelyn Tomkin, The Observatory, April 2005)

Inhalt

Contents Introduction 1 More Than One Sun Bob Argyle 2 Why Observe Double Stars? Bob Argyle 3 The Observation of Binocular Double Stars Mike Ropelewski 4 The Scale of Binary Systems Bob Argyle 5 Multiple Stars and Planets Bob Argyle 6 Is the Sun a Double Star? Bob Argyle 7 The Orbital Elements of a Visual Binary Star Andreas Alzner 8 Orbit Computation Andreas Alzner 9 Some Famous Double Stars Bob Argyle 10 The Resolution of a Telescope Bob Argyle 11 Reflecting Telescopes and Double-Star Astronomy Christopher Taylor 12 Simple Techniques of Measurement Tom Teague 13 The Double-Image Micrometer Andreas Alzner 14 The Diffraction Grating Micrometer Andreas Maurer 15 The Filar Micrometer Bob Argyle 16 The CCD Camera Doug West 17 Speckle Interferometry for the Amateur Nils Turner 18 Lunar Occultations Graham Appleby 19 What the Amateur can Contribute Bob Argyle 20 Some Active Amateur Double Star Observers Bob Argyle 21 An Observing Session Bob Argyle 22 Some Useful Formulae Michael Greaney 23 Star Atlases and Software Owen Brazell 24 Catalogues Bob Argyle 25 Publication of Results Bob Argyle Appendix: Some Useful URL Addresses Brief Biographies Index