The search for wide pairs among nearby stars

Summary The detectability and confirmation of wide pairs among nearby stars is difficult due to uncertainties in their motions arising from errors in the observational data. Statistical tests for wide pairs reveal the increasing unevenness in space motions with decreasing age. They cannot so easily distinguish between the supposed finer structure of wide pairs and triples, and larger clumps commonly associated with small moving groups and star streams. Improved radial velocities and parallaxes which are now possible, will decrease the error in space motion to well under one km s⁻¹, and this will permit such distinction to be made.