Epsilon Persei -- Double Star in Perseus
Epsilon Persei & Questions
The Epsilon Persei star appears as an attractive white and blue double-star in the telescope.
But in the literature, it is a confusing mess. There is wide-ranging speculation and conflicting
reports about this star system. Most agree that it consists of at least one spectroscopic
binary that is below the resolution of all telescopes, but even here the data is conflicted.
More disagreement resides on the blue star just 8.7 arcseconds away from it. Most believe
that its a member of the Epsilon Persei system, but others claim it is a optical double that is
much further away from us than Epsilon Persei and appears close to Epsilon Persei only
because of our line-of-sight. Other literature (much older) also assign two additional stars
around Epsilon Persei as members of the system, but most modern reports suggests that
these stars are unlikely to be actual members of the system.
Esthetically, Epsilon Persei is a pleasant visual double-star in telescopes and that is good
enough for me. Sometimes beauty wins over knowledge.
But in the literature, it is a confusing mess. There is wide-ranging speculation and conflicting
reports about this star system. Most agree that it consists of at least one spectroscopic
binary that is below the resolution of all telescopes, but even here the data is conflicted.
More disagreement resides on the blue star just 8.7 arcseconds away from it. Most believe
that its a member of the Epsilon Persei system, but others claim it is a optical double that is
much further away from us than Epsilon Persei and appears close to Epsilon Persei only
because of our line-of-sight. Other literature (much older) also assign two additional stars
around Epsilon Persei as members of the system, but most modern reports suggests that
these stars are unlikely to be actual members of the system.
Esthetically, Epsilon Persei is a pleasant visual double-star in telescopes and that is good
enough for me. Sometimes beauty wins over knowledge.