2024 events

Double star project for amateur sized telescopes and equipment

Mike Chapman, Blake Cooper, Matthew James, Spyridon Samios, and Michael Williams

University of New England, and Northern Tablelands Astronomical Society

In the current age of research in astronomy there is an emphasis on deep space phenomena. The origins of astronomy are far more basic. Amongst the basic research areas of astronomy is the study of double stars. Many double and multiple star systems have not been updated for many years, as large observatories have taken over funding and steering research objectives. Many multiple star systems have been ignored, some for a hundred years. In this talk, a small research group of mainly amateur astronomers present a novel approach to updating the observations of some of these stellar systems.

Our work has been conducted by a group of amateur astronomers from the University of New England and the Northern Tablelands Astronomical Society (UNENTAS) using a Celestron Orange tube C14 which is owned by the University of New England (UNE) based in Armidale, New South Wales,. The observatory is named "The Bill Webster Observatory".

Our approach is based on using open source software and large amateur (except elderly) telescope of 35.5 cm objective and approximately 2000 mm focal length. The open source software used is Stellarium, image capture software for a basic ZWO B/W astronomical camera, PIPP, and REDUC. The star systems were identified using the Washington Double Star Catalogue, based on the time of year and location in the sky for Armidale.

Our results show that it is possible to study double star orbits using very basic astronomical equipment that is within the grasp of many amateur astronomers and we would encourage other amateur astronomers to attempt the same to add to the astronomical research community.