Abstract
Amateur astronomers can carry out scientific research in many different ways. Some activities require expensive telescopes, cameras, and often access to dark skies. But those who live in highly polluted areas, or do not have access to very specialized equipment, still have many possibilities; amongst which is using the online resources available from the internet. In this chapter we explore Aladin, Simbad, and VizieR, three resources created and maintained by the Centre de Données astronomiques de Strasbourg (CDS). Although these applications are intended for professional astronomers, they are also freely available for amateurs. They allow us to find and measure old neglected difficult pairs, discover new double stars, and in general have a better understanding of those tiny pairs of points of light that we love to observe, photograph and measure.
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Acknowledgements
This research makes use of the ALADIN Interactive Sky Atlas and of the VizieR database of astronomical catalogues, all maintained at the Centre de Données Astronomiques, Strasbourg, France. It also uses products from the Two Micron All Sky Survey, which is a joint project of the University of Massachusetts and the Infrared Processing and Analysis Center/California Institute of Technology; funded by the National Aeronautics and Space Administration and the National Science Foundation. Lastly, it makes use of the Washington Double Star Catalogue maintained at the U.S. Naval Observatory.
The author would like to thank Dr. William I. Hartkopf for first encouraging him to use VizieR, and to Francisco Rica for introducing him to Aladin.
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© 2012 Springer Science+Business Media New York
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Caballero, R., Argyle, R.W. (2012). Internet Astrometry. In: Argyle, R.W. (eds) Observing and Measuring Visual Double Stars. Patrick Moore’s Practical Astronomy Series. Springer, New York, NY. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4614-3945-5_19
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4614-3945-5_19
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