Introducing HR 2462

[EpickCrom]

G'day fellow observers.

Last night I was cruising the star fields of southern Puppis with my 10 inch dob when I came upon a new to me double star, HR 2462. I was immediately struck by its beauty. It's components are magnitudes 5 and 7, seperated by 13.5". What makes this object beautiful is its contrasting colours, yellow and blue!

I searched the web for information on this beautiful double but came up with scant information. I can't believe it is not more well known as it looks better than some other more famous double stars! I've attached a Sky Safari screenshot to aid you in locating it if you are interested in observing it. What a beaut!

Clear Skies
Joe

[Tinderboxsky]

I agree, Joe. It is an under rated double star.

I enjoy re-visiting Puppis each year. It offers a wealth of double stars and open clusters. The asterism of bright and faint stars streaming in a curve away Asmidiski is also a favourite of mine.

[EpickCrom]

Hi Steve. I'm with you on this. Puppis is one of my favourites too, so much to see there! Asmidiske is wonderful, I call it "The Wonder Star".

Also NGC 2477 is a wonderful open cluster.

[Robh]

It's been a while since I looked at it.
It is also known as DUN 31 after its discoverer.
Lovely contrast with stellar spectral types G8 and A0.

Latest GAIA parallax data from SIMBAD would put the stars at very similar distances. So, they may actually be a gravitational pair rather than just a line of sight coincidence.

SIMBAD also classifies it as V Pup but this appears to be an error as there is another V Pup in the database.

[EpickCrom]

Hi Robyn, and thanks for the interesting information. It is a beautiful double that definitely deserves more recognition!