Mizar - " the girdle "

Zeta - Ursa Major is a celebrated star; being the first double star discovered. In 1650 Riccioli determined its duplicity and in 1755 Bradley first measured it. C.E. Barns designated Mizar a "pioneer star" which "never fails to inspire awe, however frequently observed".

Along with the single star Alcor, only 11' 48" away, they have been called through history: "the Horse and its Rider"

Mizar was also the first double star photographed in 1857 by G.P. Bond.

W.H. Smyth called it "a splendid double star" - white & pale emerald

T.W. Webb - both greenish-white

W.T. Olcott said: "Probably the best known double star in the heavens and one of the most beautiful" - both white

Izar; Mirak - " the girdle "

In a paper dated 6/9/1803, William Herschel stated " This beautiful double star, on account of the different colours of stars of which it is composed, has much the appearance of a planet and its satellite, both shining with innate but different light." Herschel knew this star well. In 1782, Epsilon Bootes was the object of his investigations for stellar parallax, though they were unsuccessful. Years later he recognized its binary character.

His son John Herschel saw the components as having very marked contrast of colours - yellow & blue-green

In 1829 F.G.W. Struve determined the duplicity of the pair and was so impressed with its exquisite beauty, that he named it "Pulcherrim". He saw them as yellow & reddish purple.

W. Herschel - pale red and garnet

W.H. Smyth said the colors of pale orange & sea green were distinct and strongly contrasted.

C. Flammarion - bright yellow & marine blue.

A. Clerke - chrome yellow & sea-water blue

Argelander called the pair - "par excellence"

W.T. Olcott - a superb object; a test for a 2" glass - orange & green

Cor Caroli - " the Heart of Charles "

Alpha - Canes Venetici was set apart by Edmund Halley in 1725 as "Cor Caroli" in honor of Charles II of England

John Herschel saw no color contrast

T.W. Webb - yellow & pale copper

C. Flammarion called it "one of the prettiest doubles in the sky" - golden yellow & lilac

A. Clerke - pale yellow & fawn

E. Dembowski - yellow & pale olive blue

W.T. Olcott - both yellow - " Easy for small glass; can be seen in a 2 inch telescope"

Rasalgethi

It's discovery is often credited to Sir William Herschel, but on Aug. 29, 1779 he wrote "On May 2, 1781, Dr. Maskelyne very politely showed me the double star which he mentioned having discovered about four years ago"

Sir William Herschel did discover in 1795 that the primary was a variable, assigning the oscillation period of two months (now believed to be 3months); from 3.1 to 3.9 magnitude

W. H. Smyth - orange and emerald or bluish-green; "This lovely object, one of the finest in the heavens, was described to be a double by Piazzi, though not always easily seen so"

C. Flammarion - a "charming pair", orange and emerald

A. Clerke - "A good many richly-tinted stars appear stationary, doubtless because their distances apart are so considerable as to make their revolutions inordinately slow. Thus the emerald-green companion of a Herculis has preserved, during a century, an invariable position with regards to the ruddy star it depends on"

R. Dibbon-Smith - orbital period = 3600 years

W.T. Olcott - yellow-blue; orange-green also given

Albireo

Noted as a pair by Bradley before 1755

W. H. Smyth - topaz yellow and sapphire blue; "The colours in brilliant contrast, by which term I do not mean the mere optical complementary tints, but relating to these bodies as radiating their own coloured lights"

C. Flammarion - yellow of gold and sapphire; one of most beautiful of the sky (very easy)

A. Clerke - "The fixed pair beta Cygni (Albireo) shining with "yellow topaz" and "aquacoelestis blue" light, presents perhaps the most lovely effect of colour in the heavens"
"Where two close stars seem fixed, relatively and absolutely, the case for their physical union must depend upon circumstantial evidence alone. But this is sometimes of cogent import. Contrast of colour, for instance, may afford grounds for a strong persuasion of real relationship. Certain tints, as blue, green, and violet, only occur among mutually associated stars. We cannot, then, suppose the association upon which they depend for their production to be merely apparent. The topaz and azure components of beta Cygni have no appreciable motion of any kind, and they are separated by a gap of 34", exceeding the limit of distance of real double stars as defined by Struve. Yet it is impossible to doubt that their brilliant hues are truly expressive of the systemic union from which they in some unknown way result."

W.T. Olcott - yellow-blue, very fine; "Many consider beta Cygni the finest double star in the sky. Its contrasting colors, gold and blue, are very beautiful"

Sarin

W. H. Smyth - greenish white and grape red

F.G.W. Struve - green and ashy white

E. Demboski - clear yellow and blue

C. Flammarion - difficult double, the small one is violet

W.T. Olcott - green and purple; variable. "The companion to delta Herculis has no connection with it, for the two stars are moving in different directions, and in a few centuries will be widely separated."

STF 2727

Discovered by F.G.W. Struve in 1830

W. H. Smyth - yellow and light emerald; a beautiful double star

E. Crossley - golden and bluish green; appears to vary in colour; given as yellow green and blue by others

C. Flammarion - orange and green, extremely pretty, orbital system

W.T. Olcott - yellow and bluish green; a beautiful object

Almach    STF 205

W. H. Smyth - a splendid double star, A (primary) orange colour and B (secondary) emerald green; and of these colours I feel pretty positive, although the high authority of Herschel and Struve has pronounced them to be yellow and blue. - Mr. Bailey put in my hand a letter which he had received from Mr. Struve, in October, 1842, announcing the unlooked for tidings that he had detected Gamma Andromedae to be a triple, and that the companion is composed of two stars of equal size, separated by an interval of less than 0.5 arcseconds

E. Crossley - golden and blue - The duplicity of (Gamma) B was discovered by Otto Struve in 1842

C. Flammarion - orange and blue, a splendid couple

W.T. Olcott - Gamma Andromedae is one of the most beautiful double stars in the heavens; the contrasting color of the two stars is very fine - yellow or orange and greenish-blue