MEASUREMENTS OF BINARY STARS, INCLUDING TWO NEW DISCOVERIES, WITH THE LICK OBSERVATORY ADAPTIVE OPTICS SYSTEM

We present astronomical results from observations for a number of multiple star systems observed with the Lick Observatory natural guide star adaptive optics system. We have discovered and classified a fifth component in the Cas system and a third component for the wide binary WDS 00310+2839. Using two different data reduction techniques, we demonstrate relative astrometric precision to 2–3 mas and photometric precision to within 0.05 mag. The binary stars enable anisoplanatism to be measured, from which a mean turbulence height over Lick Observatory of 1.5–3 km is determined.