Binary system

According to wiki it's Xi Ursae Majoris.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Xi_Ursae_Majoris

 

Per wiki:

I'd say that's a yes.

 

Those are visual binaries. Some of them have turned out to be real binary stars, but no one actually knew about gravitationally bound binary stars until 1780.

 

Please provide references for this. Especially if you are going to claim the answer you got was wrong.

 

Consider the other easy binaries...
from
http://www.ianridpath.com/binaries.htm
Xi UMa/Alula Australis - semimajor separation 2,5´´, period 60 years, magnitudes 4,3/4,8
for comparison:
Eta Cas - 12´´, 480y, 3,5/7,4
Alpha For - 4,0´´, 269y, 4,0/7,2
Castor - 6,8´´, 467y, 1,9/3,0
Gamma Leo - 4,2´´, 510y, 2,4/3,6
Gamma Vir - 3,6´´, 169y, 3,5/3,5
Toliman - 7,6´´, 80y, 0,0/1,3
Xi Boo - 4,9´´, 152y, 4,8/7,0
44 Boo - 3,7´´, 210y, 4,8/6
70 Oph - 4,5´´, 88y, 4,2/6,2
61 Cygni - 24,3´´, 678y, 5,4/6,1
Zeta Aquarii - 3,4´´, 487y, 4,3/4,5

It is odd that Alula Australis should have been the first... compared to say 70 Ophiuchi and especially Toliman.

 

Yes, but they didn't know it was an actual binary star at the time. And by "actual" I mean two stars gravitationally bound to each other.

 

Mind giving a reference?

 

Throwing them into an orbital period calculator gives me an orbital period of approximately 10 million years. Assuming I'm within even an order of magnitude, it seems unlikely that ancient indians could know they moved with each other. The time scale is simply too long. Even over 5,000 years their orbital motion would not be able to be seen.

 

Alcor and Mizar have been known as a visual double since before antiquity.

I don't see how. They are WAAAY too far apart for their orbital motion around each other to be noticeable over a few thousand years. Especially before the invention of the telescope in the 1600's. It's likely that any reference to them moving around each other is based on something other than visual observation.

 

Information from Ancient Aliens?