118 Tauri -- Double Star in Taurus
A Night Spent on Double Stars
The night was spent observing double and multiple star systems.  These star systems are a
pleasing way to spend telescope time when the sky is dominated by a bright moon -- which
robs most deep sky objects from the telescope.  The double or possibly triple stars making
up “118 Tauri” was my last target for the night.  

The attractive blue and yellow star system was not a difficult split, at 4.70 arcseconds, in the
155mm refractor.  Depending on which literature source you read, the third much dimmer star
at the 4:00 0’Clock position from the brighter pair, is also a member of the 118 Tauri Star
System.  However, even if it is, at magnitude 13.1 and wider separation (12.7 arcseconds), it
is so dim and far from the primary star, that it adds nothing to the esthetics of the blue and
yellow pair.