Speckle interferometry has been on RFO’s research radar for a while, with earlier proof-of-concept observations demonstrating the technique is achievable with the RC20 telescope. This summer, RFO volunteer Harley Zerega took that foundation to the next level, systematically working to understand the limits of what the RC20 can accomplish with speckle — observing three double …
Tag: astrometry
RFO Volunteers Publish New Measurements of a 194-Year-Old Double Star Discovery
Two RFO volunteers, Sophie Qin and Rachel Freed, have submitted a research paper to the Journal of Double Star Observations (JDSO) presenting new astrometric measurements of the double star system WDS 18428+5938 ” a pair of stars that have been watched by astronomers for nearly two centuries. A Star System with a Long History WDS …
High School Students Publish Research on Double Star System WDS 22267+4433
Can two stars be gravitationally bound to each other across the void of space? Determining whether a pair of stars that appear close together in the sky are actually in orbit around each other ” or merely close in our line of sight by coincidence ” requires measuring their positions precisely, repeatedly, over many years. …