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Ward Doubles
Ward doubles are 88 binary stars recognized by the Washington Double Star Catalog (as NZO objects) that were identified by Joseph Ward Sir Joseph George Ward, 1st Baronet, (26 April 1856 – 8 July 1930) was a New Zealand politician who served as the 17th prime minister of New Zealand from 1906 to 1912 and from 1928 to 1930. He was a dominant figure in the Liberal and Unit ... and his assistant Thomas Allison. Ward and Allison identified over 200 double stars during a survey of the southern sky at Ward Observatory over six years beginning in 1904. References Binary stars {{astronomy-stub ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Binary Star
A binary star is a system of two stars that are gravitationally bound to and in orbit around each other. Binary stars in the night sky that are seen as a single object to the naked eye are often resolved using a telescope as separate stars, in which case they are called ''visual binaries''. Many visual binaries have long orbital periods of several centuries or millennia and therefore have orbits which are uncertain or poorly known. They may also be detected by indirect techniques, such as spectroscopy (''spectroscopic binaries'') or astrometry (''astrometric binaries''). If a binary star happens to orbit in a plane along our line of sight, its components will eclipse and transit each other; these pairs are called ''eclipsing binaries'', or, together with other binaries that change brightness as they orbit, ''photometric binaries''. If components in binary star systems are close enough they can gravitationally distort their mutual outer stellar atmospheres. In some cases, thes ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Washington Double Star Catalog
The Washington Double Star Catalog, or WDS, is a catalog of double stars, maintained at the United States Naval Observatory. The catalog contains positions, magnitudes, proper motions and spectral types and has entries for (as of June 2017) 141,743 pairs of double stars. The catalog also includes multiple stars. In general, a multiple star with ''n'' components will be represented by entries in the catalog for ''n-1'' pairs of stars. History The database used to construct the WDS originated at Lick Observatory, where it was used to construct the Index Catalog of Visual Double Stars, published in 1963. In 1965, under the initiative of Charles Worley, it was transferred to the Naval Observatory. The catalog has since been augmented by many measurements, mainly from the Hipparcos and Tycho catalogues and results from speckle interferometry, as well as other sources. A unique 1–3 letter discovery code is used to identify the observer who reported the information. For example, HEI ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Joseph Ward (astronomer)
Joseph Thomas Ward (25 January 1862 – 4 January 1927) was a New Zealand astronomer and telescope maker. Born in England, he migrated to New Zealand circa 1880, and settled in Whanganui. Ward was a pioneer New Zealand telescope maker, instrumental in establishing both the Wanganui Astronomical Society, and the Wanganui Observatory. Early life Joseph Thomas Ward was born in Chelsea, London, England, on 25 January 1862, the son of Mary Sarah Clark and Francis Ward, a licensed victualler. He was educated for the Catholic priesthood but abandoned this idea and migrated to New Zealand, where he worked for several years as a shepherd and shearer in Marlborough, and as a saddler in Wellington. On 12 October 1894, he married Ada Evelyn Wright (at the residence of the bride’s father). The married couple moved to Whanganui, where Ward first opened a lending library, and later, a bookshop and stationery business, ‘Book Nook’. Wanganui Astronomical Society and Wanganui Observator ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Ward Observatory
The Ward Observatory is an astronomical observatory in Whanganui, New Zealand. Built in 1901 and administered by the Wanganui Astronomical Society, it is named after Joseph Ward (1862–1927), the society's first president and longtime director of the observatory. It houses a telescope, the largest unmodified refractor telescope in use in New Zealand. The Observatory was designed by A. Atkins to Joseph Ward's specifications, cost £290 to build, and was formally opened by Premier Richard Seddon on 25 May 1903. The telescope had been bought second-hand in England for £450, and with its mounting weighed three tons. In the Astronomical Society's heyday before and during World War I, Joseph Ward was Honorary Director of the Observatory and Charles Whitmore Babbage, grandson of Charles Babbage the President, Secretary, and Treasurer. At this time Ward and his assistant Thomas Allison catalogued over 200 double stars, 88 of which are still recognised as “Ward doubles”. Ward als ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
