Astrometric Observations of WDS 18574+0302 Using the Great Basin Observatory

Abstract

WDS 1857+0302 is a two-component system with 7 historical measurements. For this paper, we acquired 10 images of the system and used AstroImageJ to measure the separation and position angles of the stars. The separation has changed by approximately 0.063” throughout the last ~26 years. We plotted our measurements in comparison to those previously taken and found a weak polynomial trend. This polynomial trend, indicative of an optical double, was further supported with Gaia parallax data. However, the proper motions of the pair contradict this conclusion. Further study is needed to determine the nature of this pair