* Astronomy

Blobrana · L

RE: Albireo

Blobrana · L

The famous blue-orange double star Albireo (Beta Cygni).


Date: 18.04.15

5 x 4 second frames captured with a 8" f5 reflector and Canon EOS 350D.
Motorised EQ5 Mount.
Prime focus.

Blobrana · L

Albireo

Spoiler

Blobrana · L

Albireo (Beta Cygni) is the fifth brightest star in the constellation Cygnus. Although it has the Bayer designation beta, it is fainter than Gamma Cygni, Delta Cygni, and Epsilon Cygni. Albireo appears to the naked eye to be a single star but can be resolved with a telescope into a double star, consisting of a brighter yellow star (actually a binary system of two stars in orbit) and a fainter blue star.

Source

Blobrana · L

Seen at even slight magnification, the bright double star Albireo shows the strikingly different colours of the two component stars.
At 380 light years distant, the two bright stars of Albireo are comparatively far from each other and take over 7000 years to complete a single orbit.

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The brighter yellow star is itself a binary star system, but too close together to be resolved even with a telescope. Albireo, is the second brightest star system toward the constellation of Cygnus (the Swan) and easily visible to the unaided eye.