Observing and Measuring Visual Double Stars

There are more binary stars visible in the night sky than there are single stars, and there are enormous numbers of wide, faint pairs under-observed or not observed at all - professional astronomers just don't have the available time to study them.This is where amateur astronomers can help. Bob Argyle, a professional astronomer at Cambridge University, shows where enthusiastic amateur observers can best direct their efforts. The book caters for the use of every level of equipment, from simple commercial telescopes to micrometers and CCD cameras.Amateur astronomers who have gone beyond “sight-seeing.. and want to make a genuine scientific contribution will find this a fascinating and rewarding field - and this book provides all the background and practical information that's needed.Includes a free CDROM represents an informative snapshot of continually evolving catalogues, including; the United States Naval Observatory catalogues, the WDS, the Second Delta-m catalogue, the Fourth Interferometric catalogue and the Sixth orbital catalogue to be used in conjunction with the USNO website.