Double Star - History

History

Mizar, in Ursa Major, was observed to be double by Giovanni Battista Riccioli in 1650 (and probably earlier by Benedetto Castelli and Galileo). The identification of other doubles soon followed: Robert Hooke discovered one of the first double-star systems, Gamma Arietis, in 1664, while the bright southern star Acrux, in the Southern Cross, was discovered to be double by Fontenay in 1685. Since that time, the search has been carried out thoroughly and the entire sky has been examined for double stars down to a limiting apparent magnitude of about 9.0. At least 1 in 18 stars brighter than 9.0 magnitude in the northern half of the sky are known to be double stars visible with a 36-inch (910 mm) telescope.

The unrelated categories of optical doubles and true binaries are lumped together for historical and practical reasons. When Mizar was found to be a binary, it was quite difficult to determine whether a double star was a binary system or only an optical double. Improved telescopes, spectroscopy, and photography are the basic tools used to make the distinction. After it was determined to be a visual binary, Mizar's components were found to be spectroscopic binaries themselves. Additionally, Mizar forms an optical double with the star Alcor. With a separation of 3 lightyears, it is doubted, but not absolutely proven, that there is no significant gravitational interaction between them. Thus "double star" remains a useful term for pairs whose status is not fully known.