Huachuca Astronomy Club—Speakers

Richard Harshaw, Brilliant Sky Observatory
Astronomer, Author, 2009 President of the Saguaro Astronomy Club


Richard Harshaw speaking at the Huachuca Astronomy Club in Sierra Vista, Arizona, on March 13, 2009. Here he describes how precisely measuring the positions of double stars can determine whether they are gravitationally-bound binaries, or merely optical doubles. Photo © Del Gordon 2009.




"The Wonder of Binary Stars"
Richard Harshaw, 2009 president of the Saguaro Astronomy Club (SAC), gave a talk about double stars on March 13, 2009, at Cochise College in Sierra Vista, Arizona.

Double stars are more than just pretty things in the eyepiece! They can contain a wealth of observing challenges, pleasures, rewards, and the opportunity for amateurs to do useful science. This talk started with the basics (component naming, separation, position angle, epoch, discoverers) and traced the history of binary star observation. Then Richard discussed how knowing the orbits of binary systems can help us fill in the H-R diagram and the implications for stellar evolution theory, and hence the theory of the cosmos. He considered the different types of binaries, and then discussed how to do measures and report those measures to peer-review bodies. The talk ended with handouts of lists of binaries that are good challenges for amateurs.

The Most Colorful Double Stars in the Northern Sky (81 KB, PDF)

Presentation: "The Awesome World of Double Stars" (2.7 MB, PDF)

The Washington Double Star Catalog

Interactive Binary Star System Simulator

Double Star Imaging with a Webcam
         ( Select Gallery --> Deep Sky --> Double Star Imaging )



Richard Harshaw explains the varous different types of intricate dances that binary stars can effect. Cochise College, Sierra Vista, Arizona, March 13, 2009. Photo © Del Gordon 2009.

Bio: Richard Harshaw began his interest in astronomy when John Glenn orbited the earth in 1963. Urged along by a supportive father, he viewed the sky with binoculars, then acquired his first telescope (a 60 mm alt-az refractor) while in the seventh grade (1964). Eventually, he upgraded to a 4.5” refractor on an equatorial mount, later selling it and getting another refractor (on an equatorial mount). In 1986, he acquired a used Celestron C-8, his first really serious telescope.

Discovering he had a much larger universe at his disposal than ever before, he felt he had to come up with a systematic way to observe the sky efficiently. In 2002, he acquired a Celestron C-11, and in 2005, he signed a contract with Springer-Verlag to write a book for the Patrick Moore Popular Astronomy Series. That book was eventually titled The Complete CD Guide to the Universe, and was released in April 2007. (It is the compilation of the observing system he developed when he acquired the C-8.) The book contains a CD-ROM with 13,000 pages of finder charts, object lists, descriptions, notes, sketches, and hundreds of pages of supporting files, such as observing checklists, sketch templates, and the like.

Mr. Harshaw has also been published about a dozen times in the Webb Society’s “Deep Sky Observer” and various Double Star Circulars. In 2005, he was awarded the code HSW in the Washington Double Star Catalog for his contribution of over 2,000 measurements, making him one of the ten most active binary star observers in the world. Between 2003 and 2005, he acquired ten Astronomical League observing club awards and was awarded Master Observer certificate number 47.

Mr. Harshaw currently resides in Cave Creek, Arizona, where he lives with his wife, a retired school teacher. His daughter, son-in-law, and grandchildren live four miles away. He works part-time as a consultant to the HVAC industry, and operates the Brilliant Sky Observatory from his back yard. He is the president of the Saguaro Astronomy Club (SAC) for 2009.



White Dwarf Star Spiral About 1,600 light-years away, in a binary star system fondly known as J0806, two dense white dwarf stars orbit each other once every 321 seconds. Based on data from the Chandra X-Ray Observatory, astronomers believe that the stars' already impressively short orbital period is steadily becoming shorter. Because of this, the two stars are destined to merge. Depicted in this artist's vision, the death spiral of the remarkable J0806 system is a consequence of Einstein's theory of General Relativity that predicts the white dwarf stars will lose their orbital energy by generating gravity waves. In fact, J0806 could be one of the brightest sources of gravitational waves in our galaxy, directly detectable by future space-based gravity wave instruments. Image credit: NASA/Tod Strohmayer (GSFC)/Dana Berry (Chandra X-Ray Observatory)


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