Modern telescopes of even modest aperture can show thousands of double stars. Many are faint and unremarkable but hundreds are worth searching out. Veteran double-star observer Bob Argyle and his co-authors take a close-up look at their selection of 175 of the night sky's most interesting double and multiple stars. The history of each system is laid out from the original discovery to what we know at the present time about the stars. Wide-field finder charts are presented for each system along with plots of the apparent orbits and predicted future positions for the orbital systems. Recent measurements of each system are included which will help you to decide whether they can be seen in your telescope, as well as giving advice on the aperture needed. Double star observers of all levels of experience will treasure the level of detail in this guide to these jewels of the night sky.

Author: Bob Argyle, Mike Swan, Andrew James
Binding Type: Paperback
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Published: 10/03/2019
Pages: 482
Weight: 3lbs
Size: 10.72h x 8.66w x 0.85d
ISBN: 9781316629253


Review Citation(s):
Choice 06/01/2020

About the Author
Argyle, Bob: - Bob Argyle has observed double stars since 1966. He has been Director of the Webb Deep-Sky Society's Double Star Section since 1970. He edited Observing and Measuring Visual Double Stars (2012) and writes monthly columns on double stars for Astronomy Now and the Webb Society. He is a Fellow of Royal Astronomical Society, a Member of the International Astronomical Union and Editor of Observatory magazine.Swan, Mike: - Mike Swan worked for the Ordnance Survey in England. He has extensive experience in computer graphics and uranography and was solely responsible for the Webb Deep-Sky Society Star Atlas. He is currently completing a two part Atlas of Galactic Clusters. In this volume he produced the finder charts, the all-sky charts and orbital plots.James, Andrew: - Andrew James has been interested in double stars since the late 1970s. He is a long-term member, and past President, of the Astronomical Society of New South Wales (ASNSW), and formed its Double Star Section in 1979. His interests include the historical backgrounds and works of various discoverers of southern double stars.