Do any of the members view double stars regularly? I’ve started the Astronomical League’s Double Star program, and am interested if others have done it or are working on it. I’ve logged about 12 of the 100 in the AL list.
I completed the Double Star Program back in 2002 (Award #0159). It was one of the required programs for the AL Master Observer Award. It is one of the programs that I was able to complete with many of the observations completed from my light polluted backyard. The telescope that I used to observe was a Meade 10" LX-200. One of the requirements is that the observer must estimate the position angle for the pair of stars. While this was sometimes difficult with the Alt-Az mount, it taught me about certain aspects of using the mount such as the image being reversed and how the view changes depending on where in the sky the image was viewed. There were also several very pretty and colorful double stars that are included in the list. Overall, it turned out to be a very enjoyable observing program.
Rod Gallagher
AL Master Observer #0110
I also completed the Double Star Program back in 2002. My award number is 178. I used a 6” refractor on an equatorial mount. I have since observed 1154 double stars that I have highlighted in my Sky Catalogue 2000.0 vol.2.
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