Mizar and Alcor, center and left, in Ursa Major – Perhaps the most famous of all binary systems. Mizar and Alcor are thought to be just optical doubles, not gravitationally bound, or they have an orbital period of hundreds of thousands of years. Each is a true binary itself, making Mizar and Alcor a “double-double” system.
A collection of Binary, Triple and Quadruple stars. Binary or Doubles are the catch all term for all multiple star systems. These are systems where there are actually stars that orbit each other and are gravitationally bound. Imagine what it would be like to live on a planet with two or more suns in the sky! Some have wonderful color contrast. Some have size contrast/similarity. Some are just cool. Weird, but stars are not that photogenic. They don’t show up really well, and many times the pictures from the DSS will not show that they are doubles at first glance. You can look though closely at the diffraction spikes, or star-burst patterns, to discern two or more spikes. You really have to get your eye-ball on these to fully appreciate their beauty. Especially the color contrast.
- Andromeda
- Aquarius
- Aries
- Boötes
- Cancer
- Canes Venatici
- Canis Major
- Cassiopeia
- Coma Berenices
- Corona Borealis
- Corvis
- Cygnus
- Delphinus
- Draco
- Gemini
- Hercules
- Hydra
- Lacerta
- Leo
- Lynx
- Lyra
- Monoceros
- Scorpius
- Ursa Major
- Ursa Minor
- Virgo