"Southern Double Stars" V0.0.3

[Enchilada]

Under a recent thread 'Star Catalogues", there was a discussion on the naming of stars, especially towards double stars nomenclature.

I then posted a draft copy of a double star text I have been working on for a little while. This contains a useful useful catalogue (attached) of "350 Bright Southern Stars", which might give observers targets to seek out. The document lists these double stars in order of either; R.A., separation, constellation or declination.

However, I have removed the attached "Constellation Section", and made it a separate document. This is useful, as it give the culmination times, when double stars are on the meridian - the best time to observe double - in an attempt to minimise poor seeing that makes pairs difficult to resolve. (I did this as their is a limit of 500k for pdf's. :sadeyes:)

Since doing this, I have made in the last day a very significant update, which now has a 'flash' coverpage, and some general text on double stars that may be of use by visual observers here. This document is now 470K, and is 50-pages long…..

I would appreciate very much any possible additions or useful comments that might improve future versions of these documents.

Hope this is of some use…. :thanx:

=============================

Note: Another general list in IIS is "110 Southern Sky Doubles" is by Stephen Saber, but has no PA's I.e. http://www.iceinspace.com.au/63-357-0-0-1-0.html

Note 2: A 400 southern pairs, etc. mentioned in the text, I do hope to complete in coming weeks. :eyepop: I will hopefully use this thread for update as they come to hand. (Hence, the starting of this new thread UNDER AN OBVIOUS TITLE!)

(Iceman might like to up load this to the Projects and Article Section, if he see fit!!!)

[Lismore Bloke]

Thank you very much Enchilada for posting those files. Am printing them off for reference. Outstanding!!!

[Parkwood]

Thank you.

As I have stated earlier, these lists are invaluable!

[Robh]

Enchilada,
I have a great interest in double stars.
Very useful and much appreciated.

Regards, Rob.

[Enchilada]

I have just posted the companion document on "Southern Binary Stars", which contains ephemerides on the bright southern systems.

As Alpha Centauri is currently quickly changing, the ephemeris makes this more than useful. :D

Cheers,
Encha

[Saturnine]

Hi Enchilada

Your efforts in compiling the 350 list is greatly appreciated, especially in the several formats that you've put together, by Constellation and R.A. are the two lists that I will find most usefull. It will be interesting to go through the lists and cross check how many of them I've observed already ( and how many more to go ), can't help wondering if I don't have too many observing lists now.
If I may mention one small critique, in that you left out poor old Mensa, not one listing for this often overlooked costellation and there are a few doubles worth the trouble to find in it. Hartungs only lists one and The Cambridge Double Star Atlas and Sissy Haas' book, 4 each and Burnhams Celestial Handbook lists 12 and also, I think from memory, that Starry Night Pro 4.5 shows at least a dozen or so, will check more thoroughly later, what do you leave out to include something from Mensa is really more of an rhetorical question rather than one based on visual merit and any list that isn't open ended is bound to be arbitary.
From a personal perspective, including at least one object from each constellation would have been "nice".
Again, thanks for your time and effort in putting the lists together, I dips my lid to you Sir and I'll enjoy trolling my way through them.

Warm Regards

Jeff

[Enchilada]

Mensa, if I can recall, are mostly just faint pairs - being below the general 6.5v magnitude limit for visual pairs here. Only one pair is of note, in Hartung, which is Innes 277 or I 277, which is a measly 7.7 and 11.1 magnitude, whose separation is around 4 arcsec - not an overtly very exciting object. Sadly there are dozens better than it. None sadly in Mensa.
However, I do agree all constellation would be nice. (Even my other 400 pair list doesn't meet this criteria for constellations.)

[Enchilada]

Some good news, Jeff. I've been a very busy chap!!

I have been throughly updating the whole document again, and you very thoughts here were motivating me enough to improve the number of pairs in all these southern constellations - including wee little Mensa!

This is another Table with 100-odd pairs that didn't make the grade, but are worthwhile knowing about and/or looking at.

Should be all finish by the middle of the week! :)

As for Mensa, here is the pick of crop in this constellation. As you can see they mostly fainter than those really nice pairs to "dazzle the eyes" - except perhaps HDS 457, HJ 3741, Hrg 2, and HJ 3911.

Still you can have fun with most of them!

MENSA DOUBLE STARS

Desgn……..WDS Design Mag. Mag Sep. PA. Sp
*********************************** ***
RST 2310 03280-7737 7.7 13.5 02.1 140 K0
HDS..457 03365-7819 6.3 07.1 00.1 068 K2
RST 2341 04067-8044 7.9 08.1 00.2 037 G2
RST 2345 04096-8151 9.8 10.8 00.5 240 M3 U Men
HJ….3692 04228-8254 6.8 12.5 47.7 182 A7

HJ….3673 04249-7741 8.0 08.2 10.3 067 F7
I.472 AB 04312-7838 7.9 10.4 01.3 270 A3
I472AB-C 04312-7838 8.1 11.8 18.6 078
I…...474 04476-7948 7.8 07.9 00.6 090 Fm
HJ….3741 05002-7818 6.3 10.2 49.6 111

HRG....2 05012-7420 6.9 07.4 00.8 170 B9
RST.2368 05019-7638 7.5 09.9 00.7 135 F5
HDS..669 05073-8352 6.8 09.3 00.2 200 F8
HJ….3746 05102-7205 8.0 08.2 03.9 267 G8
ALD…..14 05174-7132 7.8 11.4 04.6 243 K2

RST.2387 05222-8102 7.2 07.6 00.6 119 A4 gamma Men
HJ….3795 05319-7620 5.2 11.1 46.0 137 K2
I…….277. 05353-7108 7.8 11.0 03.9 190 K3
HDS..821 06017-7007 8.0 09.8 00.2 277 K3
HRG136AB 06213-7508 8.0 10.3 03.1 056 F6
HJ3870AC 06213-7508 8.2 12.7 26.3 007 Shares field with triple HJ 3868

HJ….3888 06286-7854 7.4 09.8 36.0 118 F0
HDS..889 06312-7031 7.4 08.1 00.1 145 F6
HJ3911AB 06475-7651 6.9 10.4 22.0 047 G8
HDS942Aa 06475-7651 7.0 09.0 00.1 077 G8
RST.2448 06477-8104 7.2 12.0 03.8 163 K3
HJ….3932 06541-7747 7.5 09.8 08.4 286 A5

HJ….3996 07116-8428 7.5 11.9 16.6 255 B9
I…...312 07155-7552 7.5 07.6 00.6 158 F8
HJ….3987 07216-7910 7.6 12.6 47.2 236 K2
HDS.1068 07335-7705 7.2 11.0 00.8 044 A1
*********************************** ***

[Parkwood]

Thank you .

This will be included in my TODO Doubles spreadsheet!

Just a query but is this data available as an Excel spreadsheet?

[Enchilada]

No not quite yet, but I'll make sure when I post the newer version it will be. :thumbsup:

[Saturnine]

Thanks Enchilada

Your efforts are, again, greatly appreciated, where do you find the time to collate and " publish" the lists and info that you do. Will enjoy working my way through all the lists, the Mensa list is interesting, though anything with a seperation of less than 1" will be impossible to split ( until I finish my 12" f6 project ) but even then, as you know, the seeing would have to be near perfect.
As an aside, I only today, revisited the WDS and downloaded the list of Neglected Southern Doubles and will compare it with the list I have from a few years ago as I hope to put my neglected Astrometric eyepiece to the use that I intended for it when I purchased it. From a quick perusal there doesn't seem to be many changes, as in recent published measures, so time to get some discipline back in the observing routine and start measuring and hope that I can be methodical and consistent enough to maybe be accepted.

Warm Regards

Jeff

[glenc]

Thank you Andrew, you have produced a great list.
I look forward to the spreadsheet version.