Binary Stars

I went through my collection of images and found several images of excellent double stars that I had not published anywhere until now.

Some may argue that double star images do not have the pizzazz of a galaxy or a nebula - but I beg to differ. The total blackness surrounding these objects is indicative of the absolute wilderness of interstellar space, a vastness where we suddenly encounter not one but two stars attracted to each other and locked in a mutual embrace.

A-Crux

A-Crux is the brightest object in the Southern Cross, at a distance of 325 light years. The two distinguishable stars orbit in over 1500 years. They are of magnitude 1.4 and 2.1 (combined visual magnitude = 0.77) and the brighter star is a spectroscopic binary. A fourth nearby star is believed to orbit the three main components, making it a quadruple star system.

Theta Muscae

Theta Muscae is a very tight visual binary star system, requiring a telescope to split, with an angular separation of 5.3". The combined magnitude is 5.4 (5.7 and 7.3). Distance 108 light-years. The brighter star may be a Wolf-Rayet star.

Epsilon Norma

Epsilon Normae is approximately 600 light-years distant. This is a visual binary star system with a combined magnitude of 4.5. The two components are magnitudes 4.8 (G8 class) and 7.5 (F9 class), with an angular separation of 22.8". Both main components are themselves spectroscopic binaries, making this a quadruple star system.

Beta Muscae

With a combined visual magnitude of 3.1, the Beta Muscae system is 340 light-years away. It has an orbital period of 194 years and both components are main sequence stars. The individual magnitudes are 3.0 and 4.0. Separation is a very close 1.22".

Gamma Volans

Gamma Volans is a visual binary star system of combined magnitude 3.6. The two main components are class G8 (mag 3.8) and F4 (mag 5.4); and require a telescope to split them. Gamma-1 is an Orange Giant. Gamma-2 is described as a yellow-white main sequence star but appears more blue in this image.

k-Puppis

Both components of k-Puppis (not Kappa) are B class stars. Their magnitudes are similar too (4.5 and 4.6), for a combined brightness of 3.8. They are approximately 10" apart and about 460 light years away from us.

All images were taken with my Meade LX-90 f/10 telescope and Canon 60D camera, the images were cropped of much of the surrounding blackness to reveal the star system's true beauty at the centre. Please click on the images to view them in their enlarged format.