Double Stars for Small Telescopes: Sissy Haas (2006)

This is a great book if you are a person who wants access to a lot of information without going through a lot of fluff to find it. The book is about 175 pages and measures 8.5” X 11.0” (216mm X 279mm).

Pages 1-7 are an introduction to double stars, some history of observing and cataloging them, star magnitudes, the Greek alphabet, etc. Pages 8 and 9 have constellation charts showing the positions of 15 “showcase” doubles in the constellations of Leo, Lyra, Cygnus, Orion, Lepus, Cassiopeia, and Cepheus. Page 10 shows how to measure Position Angle describes the information for the following column headings.

The main part of the book follows with the 161-page list of double stars. All the constellations are covered in alphabetical order. The stars within the constellations are listed by Right Ascension. The columns of information are very readable and contain the follow headings about each double star:

RA (Right Ascension)

Dec (Declination)

Name (star name)

Year (last year of detailed observation)

P.A. (Position Angle, showing where the stars are relative to each other)

Sep (Separation, how far apart the star in arc seconds)

m1 (visual magnitude of the primary star)

m2 (visual magnitude of the secondary star or stars)

Spec (Spectral type of stars)

Status (info given here if it is known to be optical, binary or has a known orbital period) Comments** (SEE BELOW)

**The COMMENTS column is really useful in this book. Given is the aperture and magnification of the telescope or binocular used to observe it. Also given are the colors of the stars and whether the author finds this star easy to see or whether it is getting harder, due to the star’s orbits and the star’s common name if it has one. Most of the comments are three to five lines long.

Pros: Very concise and easy to read. A lot of good information for the Double Star observer who wants as much information as possible without having to dig through a plethora of irrelevant information.

Cons: There are almost no cons, but if I could change one thing, I would put in a section that had basic maps of EVERY constellation, showing where in the constellation the “best” doubles are located.

Conclusion: This book is highly recommended for everyone with any level of interest in Double Star observing!

Charles P. Sands

Murfreesboro, TN