The second edition of Observing and Measuring Visual Double Stars
(2004) is the definitive book for those who are serious about this
fascinating aspect of astronomy. It deals with equipment (you can start
modestly with commercial or even home-made instruments), observing
methods using binoculars upwards to advanced instrumentation and
techniques, including speckle interferometry. The astronomy of double
stars, including orbital calculation, is given its own section.
This second edition of this popular book contains a significant amount
of completely new material, inspired by the work done by observers -
particularly in the USA - since the first edition was published. This
includes the use of the Internet to carry out astrometry (precise
astronomical measurement) using existing survey plates and films. The
new edition contains an excellent guide to sketching double stars, a
topic not previously covered. In addition, there is information about
how to image double stars of unequal brightness, always a difficult
matter but now somewhat easier because of advances in hardware and
image-processing software. Nearly all of the chapters and tables have
been updated.
The CD-ROM that accompanied the first edition of Observing and
Measuring Visual Double Stars is replaced by access to the Springer
Extras web site. The extra information includes the complete Washington
Double Star and Tycho-2 Catalogs. There is an extensive database of
astrometric, double-and multiple-star formation, including positions,
orbits, separations, and magnitudes, and a software suite that
implements many of the calculations and equations featured in the book.
