The Double Star Library

Recent Updates:

IAU Commission 26: Binary and Multiple Stars

(Etoiles Doubles et Multiples)

• Commission Membership and Officers

  • Previous Commission 26 officers
  
  
  

• Commission Mission Statement, Reports, etc.
  

  • Commission 26 mission statement
  • Commission 26 terms of reference
  • Commission reports
  • August 2012 commission meeting presentations, Beijing GA
  
  

• Information Circulars

  • Introduction and older circulars
  • Circular No. 177 (Jun 2012) : html , postscript , pdf
  • Circular No. 178 (Oct 2012) : html , postscript , pdf 
  • Circular No. 179 (Feb 2013) : html , postscript , pdf
  
  

• ** NEW ** Observing Opportunities & Requests

  As we all know, there are many doubles to observe and few of us to observe them! Following a great suggestion by Vakhtang Tamazian, we are attempting an experiment that may invite more collaboration among our group. In this section of the Commission 26 webpage, observers (amateur or professional) may advertise their upcoming observing runs or ongoing projects and invite anyone who wishes to participate. These may range from requests for a few observations to proposals for major collaborations. In addition, anyone who has a few specific objects in need of observation may post a request for either archival or new data.
  
  Information to be included on upcoming observing runs should include:
  • Date and duration (preferably a few months in advance)
  • Telescope size, location, and instrumentation (CCD, lucky imaging, speckle, RV, etc.)
  • Limiting magnitude and dynamic range (delta m), wavelength range or photometric bands
  • Resolving power of the telescope and spectrograph (R), if spectroscopy
  • The option to participate in the run: "yes" or "no". If "yes", the possibility of any kind of support (further details to be arranged with the contact person)
  • Contact person: name, email/postal address(es)
  
  Information to be included on data requests should include:
  • Object name(s), coordinates, magnitudes
  • Type of data needed: astrometry, spectroscopy, photometry, etc.
  • Other relevant information (for example, predicted periastron or occultation timings, etc.)
  
  Publication arrangements for any measures obtained will probably vary, depending on the size of
  the contribution, and should be worked out on a case-by-case basis between requester and observer.
  
  Observations may be requested for the following programs:
  
  
  • Student Double Star Speckle Interferometry Program
  • Date: 5-7 April, 2013, other run dates at other observatories to be announced
  • Observatory (this run): Pinto Valley Observatory, 35° 13' 28.47" N, 115° 20' 18.45" W, 1667 m
  • Telescope (this run): 0.5 m PWI CDK20, other telescopes on subsequent runs
  • Camera: Andor Luca-S EMCCD, Rc filter, no atmospheric dispersion correction
  • Separation: 0.4" < sep > 10.0"
  • Limiting magnitude: V<11, DV<3 (less at separations close to the magnitude limit)
  • Position: 9 h < RA > 17 h, 0 < Dec > 70 deg
  • Paper describing program and results on previous run this telescope on request
  • Contact person: Russ Genet, russmgenet[at]aol.com
  
  
  • USNO Speckle Program
  • Date: ongoing
  • Telescope: USNO 26inch (66cm) refractor, Washington, DC (lat. 38.921, long. -77.067); speckle
  • Limiting magnitude V < 11.5, dV < 3 (less at separations close to limit)
  • dec > -15, 0.5" < sep < 50",
  • Option to participate: yes, but limited. No restriction on number of objects (within reason!)
  • Contact person: Brian Mason, wds[at]usno.navy.mil

   

• IAU Division G (Stars and Stellar Physics) Links:

  • IAU Division G : main division webpage
  • IAU Commission 25 : Astronomical Photometry and Polarimetry
  • IAU Commission 27 : Variable Stars
  • IAU Commission 29 : Stellar Spectra
  • IAU Commission 30 : Radial Velocities
  • IAU Commission 35 : Stellar Constitution
  • IAU Commission 36 : Theory of Stellar Atmospheres
  • IAU Commission 42 : Close Binary Stars
  • IAU Commission 45 : Stellar Classification
  
  

• Other IAU Links:

  • International Astronomical Union : main IAU webpage
  • IAU Commission 8 : Astrometry
  • IAU Commission 54 : Optical and Infrared Interferometry
  
  

 

 

Meeting Announcements



Please let me know of other meetings you feel should be added, as well as corrections or additional information on the ones listed below. A list of international astronomy meetings covering all topics is available here

.

 

• Exoplanets in Multi-body Systems in the Kepler Era
    9-16 February 2013, Aspen, CO, USA 
  web: http://www.astro.ufl.edu/~eford/meetings/aspen2013

 

 

Information on Past Meetings


 

• IAU Symposium 240 proceedings are now available !
  Proceedings of the August 2006 Prague symposium, Binary Stars as Critical Tools and Tests in Contemporary Astrophysics have been published by Cambridge University Press. The printed volume includes 59 talks, 2 posters, and 115 poster abstracts, while the publisher's website includes 103 posters. The Table of Contents for these proceedings is available in pdf form here. For more information please see the publisher's website at http://www.journals.cambridge.org/jid_IAU.
  
  
• IAU Symposium 248 (sponsored by Commission 8 and supported by Commission 26) held on October 15-23 2007 in Shanghai, China was a very important event for astrometry in 2008. A short summary of this meeting was written by Alexandre Andrei and can be found here.
  
  
• Complete presentations of II International Meeting of Double Star Observers (Pro-Am), held 23-24 October 2010 in Sabadell (Barcelona, Spain) are available here.
  
  
  

Bibliographies of binary star papers



• Older bibliographies
• 2012




Binary and Multiple Star Catalogues




Astrometric Systems

• Washington Double Star Catalog (WDS)
  (see also "Neglected Doubles" Observing Lists)
• Fourth Catalog of Interferometric Measurements of Binary Stars
  
• Sixth Catalog of Orbits of Visual Binary Stars
  (see also list of "Calibration Candidates")
• Catalogue of Orbits and Ephemerides of Visual Double Stars 
  (Docobo, Ling, Prieto, Costa, Costado & Magdalena 2001)
  The catalog is also available in Galego and Castellano.
• USNO Third Photometric Magnitude Difference Catalog
  
• Catalog of Rectilinear Elements
  



Spectroscopic Systems

• Ninth Catalogue of Spectroscopic Binary Orbits
  (Pourbaix et al. 2002; updated frequently)
• Fifteenth Complementary Catalog of Spectroscopic Binaries
  (Pedoussaut, A. et al. 1988, A&AS 75, 441; also Malkov, O.Y. 1989, Bull. Inform. CDS 36)
  on-line data query
  



Multiple Systems

• Multiple Star Catalog
  (Tokovinin 1997; last update April 2010)



Close (Interacting and Eclipsing) Systems

• A Catalogue and Atlas of Cataclysmic Variables - Living Edition (Downes, R. et al. 2001, PASP 113, 764)
• Catalogue of Cataclysmic Binaries, Low-Mass X-Ray Binaries and Related Objects (6th ed.)
  (Ritter, H. & Kolb, U. 1998, A&AS 129, 83)
• A Finding List for Observers of Interacting Binary Systems (5th ed.)
  (Wood, F.B. et al. 1980, Pub. Dept of Astron., Univ of Florida, vol 1)
  on-line data query
  
• Catalog of Orbital Elements, Masses, and Luminosities of Close Double Stars
  (Svechnikov, M.A. & Bessonova, L.A. 1984, Bull. Inform CDS 26, 99)
  on-line data query
  
• A Catalogue of Parameters for Eclipsing Binaries
  (Brancewicz, H.K. & Dworak, T.Z. 1980, Acta Astron. 30, no. 4, pp 501-524)
  on-line data query
  
• A Catalogue of Classical (Evolved) Algol-Type Binary Candidate Stars
  (Budding, E. 1984, Bull. Inform. CDS 27, 91)
  on-line data query
  
• Catalogue of Algol Type Binary Stars
  (Budding, E. et al. 2004, A&A 417, 263-268)
  on-line data query
  




Links:

• CDS: Centre de Donnees astronomiques de Strasbourg
• Hipparcos
• SIMBAD Astronomical Database
• SIDONIe: the double star website of Nice Observatory
• ADS: NASA's Astrophysical Data System bibliographic database
• CHARA: GSU's Center for High Angular Resolution Astronomy
• OLBIN: Optical Long Baseline Interferometry Newsletter
• NEXSci: NASA Exoplanet Science Institute (formerly Michelson Science Center): 
  talks from the 2009 Sagan/Michelson Fellows Symposium
• The General Catalogue of Photometric Data
  
• The Journal of Double Star Observations:
  a quarterly journal of amateur astronomy dedicated to the study of double and binary stars
• The Webb Deep-Sky Society (Double Star Section):
  an amateur/professional society specializing in double stars and 'deep sky' objects.
  (There is also a direct link to the Webb Society Circulars.)
• Astronomical Society of Southern Africa (Double Star Section):
  another fine society for amateur double star observers
• The "Spirit of 33":
  an international network of amateur double star observers, based in Spain
• The Double Star Section of LIADA":
  the Spanish American League of Astronomy
• The Double Star Club of the Astronomical League":
  an association of local amateur astronomical societies across the United States
• The Double Star Commission of the French Astronomical Society":
  an amateur/professional double star group whose members publish in the SAF journal Observations et Travaux
• Garraf Astronomical Observatory:
  Located near Barcelona, Spain and headed by Tofol Tobal, this organization has published over 10,000 visual double star observations in its OAG General Catalog
• "El Observador de Estrellas Dobles":
  a Spanish language electronic double star journal begun in 2009
• "Il Bollettino delle Stelle Doppie"
  a new Italian language electronic double star journal begun in April 2012


• A Belorussian translation of this page is available, courtesy of Bohdan Zograf.
• A German translation of this site is available, courtesy of Andreas Beraz.
• A Romanian translation of this site is available, courtesy of Alexander Ovsov.




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