Gamma Leonis is also called Algeiba, and it’s a binary star system. I’ve been reading about them this morning, because last night it was clear enough to do some more constellation photography, and I was looking at the two ‘doubles’ in Leo. Leo’s quite nicely placed for observation now, around 11pm last night it looked fine from the site near Tong. The double in the top bright star (Adhafera) can be seen, but the other double can’t.
As I understand it, Adhafera is a telescopic/binocular double, but Algeiba is a true binary system. This sort of thing is important to remember when showing people stuff through the telescope. I’ve never really thought much about the differences between binary and telescopic doubles, but I’m going to research them.
I see Adhafera has a double that’s Known as 35 Leo, this star is separated from Adhafera by 325.9 arcseconds (from Wikki). Which compares with the 35 arcseconds of distance between the two in Albireo, (my most visited ‘double’).
I Need my Space 