Speckle Interferometry of Close Double Stars With Amateur Equipment

Speaker: Dr. Clif Ashcraft – Amateur Astronomer’s Inc., Sperry Observatory, NJ

Recent developments in CMOS sensor technology have made available for the first time low cost cameras that are both sensitive enough and low enough in dark noise to permit the amateur astronomer to do speckle interferometry of close double stars. Dr. Ashcraft will present his measurements of 10th magnitude and fainter double stars as close as 0.5 arc seconds separation using a $359 camera and an eleven-inch telescope, explain his methodology and show how you can do it too.