Comparative Analysis of Two Astrometric Measuring Methods on Five Known Binaries

TL;DR

This study compares two astrometric measurement methods on five binary star systems, evaluating their accuracy against catalog estimates using data collected from observatories in different locations.

Contribution

The paper introduces and compares an AstroImageJ-based method and a custom Python script for measuring binary star positions, highlighting their accuracy and consistency.

Findings

AstroImageJ measurements are within 1.52% of catalog theta values.

Author's script measurements are within 4.09% of catalog theta.

Both methods show comparable accuracy in measuring binary star parameters.

Abstract

Data on five Washington Double Star catalog binaries were collected from the Dimension Point Observatory (Mayhill, New Mexico) and Las Cumbres Observatory (Cerro Tololo, Chile) on February 19, 2025, and March 5, 2025, respectively. Student researchers participating in the Four Corners Research Seminar measured the position angle (theta/deg) and separation (rho/arcsec) of each target using AstroImageJ and an author-created script utilizing the Astropy module in Python3. Each target was imaged using a variety of instruments, filters, and exposure times. Compared to the extrapolated 6th Orbit Catalog estimates, measurements using AstroImageJ were within 1.52% of theta and 14.87% of rho, while the author's automated code method provided measurements within 4.09% of theta and 16.59% of rho.