Wow!! Two APODs in two weeks! Unbelievable!😲 I think I need to wake up right now!😄
This one took me by surprise, because I didn't even submit it to APOD. I never thought my spectra images could be APOD material. Jerry Bonnell found it on my Astrobin page and asked if he can use it. So cool!
Albireo A (β1 Cygni) is a 3.1 mag giant, has the spectral class K3 II and a temperature of 4270 K. Albireo B (β2 Cygni) has a magnitude of 5.1, the spectral class B8 Ve and a temperature of 13200 K.
In the spectrum profile you can see very nicely that the energy on the hotter Albireo B is concentrated in the blue end of the spectrum and on Albireo A it is shifted far into the red.
With regard to the question of whether Albireo A and B form an optical or physical double star, the data situation shows an inconsistent picture. It was mainly assumed that it is a physical double star, since it is very unlikely that two such bright stars are so close together (0.01°) purely by chance. However, many experts now believe that Albireo is just an optical double star. The radial velocities between the two components are too different.
Anyone can do spectroscopy, I'm still a beginner. It's really easy and inexpensive. All you need is a small telescope, a camera, a Star Analyser grating and the software RSpec.
Here's a link with all the info you need. Tom Field (Field Tested Systems) is very helpful and responsive.
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