At the foot of Andromeda, lying 350 light years away, sits Almach; a double star that many would argue is one of the most beautiful in the night sky. First impressions initially reveal a dazzling golden primary and a smaller greenish-blue secondary, but the story doesn’t end there. The secondary component is in fact a grouping of three main sequence bodies, an A class and a pair of B type stars, with the latter two forming a compact binary.
Thanks to the excellent seeing conditions — 2 out of 5 on the Antoniadi scale — the view through the 12mm plössl really made this a delightful observation. At a power of 83x both stars were easily split and displayed the rich deep colours that they are so renowned for. If Albireo in Cygnus is seen as the definitive double star then Almach certainly comes extremely close to stealing the show.
Tags: Almach, Andromeda, Celestron Omni XLT 120, Gamma Andromedae