The Royal Astronomical Society of Canada offers many observing programs whereby certificates can be earned. Many observations may be done with the naked eye or simple binoculars.
A link to the beginners 'Explore the Universe' observing program is provided below:
Also, if you are interested in your own observing I have provided observations sheets based on what you are interested in. Please download and print them as you need:
This blog is dedicated to sharing the many interesting phenomena in the night skies and as a personal journal of observations. One of the first observations I made was of double stars throughout the Spring of 2016. Below is the record I made for Zeta Leonis and its optical double star companion 35 Leonis.
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| Zeta Leonis Observation Record |
Double Stars
Double stars have a variety of different meanings:
- An 'Optical Double Star' refers to a pair of stars that appear very close to each other in the sky but are not gravitationally bound to each other. Optical double stars just appear close to each other because they line up with our light of sight on Earth.
- A special case of a double star referred to as a 'Binary Star' is a pair of stars that are gravitationally bound to each other. They are two stars that orbit their own center of mass in the multiple body system. Imagine if our solar system had two stars instead of one.
- A 'Multiple Star System' consists of more than two stars that are gravitationally bound to each other. There are many examples of this that are visually observable in our night sky that will be discussed in future blog postings.
Hopefully the weather improves and the skies clear for some great observing next week!
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