August 11, 2017 – Double Stars
Evening Highlights: Albireo: Appearing as a single star in the constellation Cygnus, through a telescope it resolves to a beautiful double system of gold and blue. Alcor and Mizar: Found in the handle of the Big Dipper/Ursa Major, it’s one of the few naked eye double stars. Even more interesting – it’s actually a sextuple system! Epsilon Lyrae: Found in Lyra, if looking through binoculars you’ll see two widely separated stars. Look through a telescope, and you’ll find that each ‘star’ is actually a double! Saturn: With its rings tilted to over 27 degrees this year, it will be tonight’s focus for planetary viewing. Jupiter and Mars will also be visible.