Nereid
12-May-2007, 09:39 PM
Yes ... there was a S&T article, some time ago now, on how to detect the proper motion of Barnard's star; IIRC, the CCD (astrophotos?) + image analysis software was more than enough to also show the annual parallax of this star, so I guess you could detect it in other nearby stars too.
Of course, 'observe' may have a slightly different meaning in this case than what you intended, in your question ...
jouster
13-May-2007, 12:05 AM
The author of said article used a 6" refractor as I remember.
ColoRambler
16-May-2007, 11:19 PM
Google "Dennis di Cicco". In the mid-1990s he observed the parallax of Barnard's Star with off-the-shelf amateur gear (a Celestron 11" Schmidt-Cassegrain). It's not exactly easy to do, but for the nearest stars, it's certainly possible.