Andromeda, Antila & Aquarius

A Selection of Double Stars in Andromeda

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The beautiful color-contrasting pair of Gamma Andromedae is also known by its arabic name “Almach”.
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26 Andromedae (STT 5) is located only 14 arc-minutes south of Groombridge 34 which was highlighted above. STT 5 is also a physical system though the Primary star is a more massive and hotter star of spectral class B8V. In the wide-field view a dim star is close by – But this is not the close physical companion but a non-related magnitude 15 field star with a separation of ~24 arc-seconds.
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STT 547 is actually a triple system and a very close neighbor to our solar system – only 37 light years distant.
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A Selection of Double Stars in Antila

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LDS 275 is a binary system where both components are White Dwarf stars. The magnitudes and separation of this pair would suggest that this would not be a particularly difficult system to photograph, but from my location this very southerly system rises only 12 degrees above my local horizon as well as being enveloped by the light-dome of the city of Castle Rock. Despite these challenges this stacked image (17 frames x 30 sec) captures the soft blue glow of the White Dwarfs as well as the elongation of the system.

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A Selection of Double Stars in Aquarius

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