David's Astronomy Pages (Stellar & Deep Sky)  Stars

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Star Clusters

	Stars		This page summarises observations and images of stars, including doubles and variables. For a listing of all Asteroid Images, see Image Database - Stars For Open and Globular Clusters, see Clusters
	Double Stars
	Variable Stars
	Supernovae

Stars

Stars range in brightness and colour. The colour of star depends on what temperature its surface is at. The difference in star colours is something which can be appreciated by by looking at stars with naked eye, binoculars, telescope or camera. The following picture of Orion shows nicely the difference in colour between the Red Giant Betelgeuse and the blue stars such as Bellatrix.

"Star Trails of Constellation Orion" Composite exposure (Photo method and larger view)

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Double Stars

Lyra Epsilon
One of my favourite double stars is Lyra Epsilon. It's a lovely pair of stars of approximately equal brightness, Mag +4.7 and +5.1, with separation of 3.5' (arc minutes). Together with 2 nearby fainter neighbours, the epsilon stars form a small kite shape.  Under high power the beauty of the "double" become really apparent as both Epsilon 1 and Epsilon 2 are both doubles themselves, see following sketch.

Lyra Epsilon, "Double", 1996-Nov-07 F10/8" LX200, x77 & x206,

Double-Double in Lyra

CCD Image  8 sec exposure 2001-09-25   23:16 h UT (#2014)

Another of my favourite double stars is Cygnus Beta (Albireo), comprising a lovely pair of coloured starts, the brighter one gold and the other blue.

Cygnus Beta, Double Star, 1998-Oct-23
View through Illuminated Reticle Eyepiece, x206,

Cygnus Beta, Double Star, 1998-Oct-23 View through Illuminated Reticle Eyepiece, x206

Albireo - Double Star (Cygnus) Albireo (β1 Cyg): Orange (mag +3.0),  Companion (β2 Cyg): Blue (mag + 5.1) Separation 34 arc secs

CCD Colour Composite Blue (B 1.0s), Green (V 0.3s), Red (R 0.3s) 2004-09-07 21:30 hUT (# 71026,34,36)

Struve 817 (Orion) Star Pair, Mag 8.8 and 8.9, separation 18"

CCD Image 20s exposure 2003-01-17, 22:38h UT (#39002)

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Variable Stars

I have not tried tracking the brightness variability of Variable stars until recently (2002-Oct) when I started a CCD Imaging project to follow the variability of a number of stars. I began with variables in constellations Andromeda, Lacerata and Pegasus. See Variable Stars Project.

I've started by taking some baseline images. Some of which are shown below :

UZ And,  Mira-type variable (Andromeda) Catalog  : Variation +9.1 to +15.6, Period 314.3 days

EK And,  SRa-type variable (Andromeda) Catalog  : Variation +10.3 to +11.4, Period 185 days

UZ And/EK And, baseline image,  5 sec exposure (north down) 2002-10-03  00:21h UT CCD Image, 3 x 5 sec exposure (2x2 binning) 11.4 x 7.6 arc min  (#28227-29)

RX And  UGZ-type variable (Andromeda) Catalog : Variation +10.3 to +14.0, Period (14) days

NSV 00389 suspected variable (Andromeda) Catalog  : ? Variation +11.0 to +12.5.  Period  ?  days

RX And, baseline image, 10 sec exposure (north down) 2002-10-02  23:34h UT CCD Image, 3 x 10 sec exposure (2x2 binning) 11.4 x 7.6 arc min  (#28160-62)

R And Mira-type variable (Andromeda) Catalog  : Variation +5.8 to +14.9, Period 409.33 days

R And, baseline image, 5 sec exposure (north down)

2002-10-02  23:34h UT CCD Image, 3 x 5 sec exposure (2x2 binning) 11.4 x 7.6 arc min  (#28160-62)

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Supernovae

Supernova 2001ib (in NGC 7242)

CCD Image, 2 x 5 min (#13016-17) Image scaling 1.74 arc sec/pixel 2001-12-14, 20:55 to 21:05 UT,

SN 2001ib was discovered independently  by two U.K. Supernova hunters,  M. Armstrong and R. Arbour, on  Dec. 7.8 2001 in the evening sky .  Discovery Reference IAUC 7768 Info on SN 2001ib :  http://www.rochesterastronomy.org/sn2001/sn2001ib.html

Supernova 2005cf  (in MCG-1-39-3 Galaxy, Libra) Supernova  2005cf, Measured Magnitude :  +13.5 (C),  Measured Distance from host galaxy: 2' 07"  UCAC 2.0  Stars : (1) mag + 13.6,  (2) mag +13.3

CCD Image,  6 x 2 mins (average combine) , clear filter 8" LX200 at f/10.3, ST-7e, CCDSoft/TheSky Twilight Conditions, Aberdeenshire, UK 2005-06-10  00:28 h UT (#89023-28)

Notes :  MCG-1-39-3 catalog mag +14.7,  NGC 5917 catalog mag +13.2 Supernova 2005cf was discovered by Lick Observatory Supernova Search (USA) on 2005-05-28    It is understood to be a bright Type Ia Supernova.    [ See  2005cf Images at Rochester Astronomy Site ] [ See 2005cf Light Curve on SNWeb ]

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