Double Star Albireo (Beta Cygni) and Measurements Using Tycho
Taken by Thomas Wildoner on August 23, 2024 @
Weatherly, PA, USA
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Camera Used: Unavailable Unavailable
Exposure Time: Unavailable
Aperture: Unavailable
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Date Taken: 2024:09:08 17:37:42
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Details:
Albireo (or Beta Cygni) is the 5th brightest star in the constellation Cygnus. Albireo appears to the naked eye to be a single star, but even through a modest telescope you will see a beautiful double star. The brighter yellow star is also a close binary system. The two stars are striking in their color contrast. This was the first double star I ever looked at as a young amateur astronomer in the 1970’s.
Burnham states “Albireo is one of the most beautiful double stars in the sky, considered by many observers to be the finest in the heavens for the small telescope. The brighter star is a golden yellow or ‘topaz’, magnitude 3.09, the ‘sapphire’ companion is magnitude 5.11. The separation is 34.3 seconds, an easy object for the low power telescope”. Burnham’s Celestial Handbook, Robert Burnham Jr., Volume 2.
I used the software package TYCHO to try and measure the separation and position angle. My estimates using 60 x 5 second exposures were 38.2” and a PA of 53.3 degrees. The listed statistics I found online are 35.3” and a PA of 54 degrees. If anyone else is using Tycho for double stars I’d love to hear your process.
Tech Specs: Sky-Watcher Esprit 120ED Telescope, ZWO ASI2600MC camera running at 0F, 60 x 5 second exposures, Celestron CGEM-DX pier mounted, ZWO EAF and ASIAir Pro, processed in Tycho. Image Date: August 23, 2024. Location: The Dark Side Observatory (W59), Weatherly, PA, USA (Bortle Class 4).
Photographer's website:
https://thedarksideobservatory.com
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