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80 Tau (4 30 08.60 +15 38 16.2) is a an unequally bright (5.70, 8.12) binary
star with a highly inclined orbit in the cluster of bright stars close to Aldebaran, more specifically about half a degree south following the bright
binocular pair theta1,2 Tauri. Found by Struve in 1831, the companion headed
towards the primary until by 1878, the great Italian observer Dembowski, in one
of his last observations, failed to see B in his 7-inch Merz dialyte and by the
1890s the companion was invisible in the largest apertures. The companion passed
close to A in the following years and since then has been continuing to widen,
reaching maximum separation (1".75) in around 1987. By 2010.0 the star is at 16
degs, 1".64 and should be visible for several decades in 20-cm but choose a good
night because the large difference in magnitude makes this a far from easy pair.
A itself is a spectroscopic binary and the distance to this system is 150 light
years.
Iota Pic (04 50 55.31 -53 27 41.5) is, according to Hartung, ``an excellent
object for small telescopes" and recorded the colours as yellow. The stars are
magnitudes 5.61 and 6.24 and of spectral class F0IV and F4. Each component
appears in the Hipparcos catalogue as a separate entry and the parallaxes,
whilst each possessed of rather a large error, indicate that the stars are at
the same distance from us i.e. about 130 light years and the similar proper
motions confirm that this is a true binary system. The WDS catalogue notes that
the PA of 59 degs and separation of 12".6 for 2002 is virtually unchanged since
the pair was discovered by Dunlop in 1826. The star can be found in western
Pictor, about 3 degrees north following alpha Doradus. |