The morning call., 1892-03-27

The new star which has bIazed into prom
inence in Auriga is the subject of an article
in the April number of the Californian
Illustrated Magazine by Mr. Holden of the
Lick Observatory. Thus far the obSerya-
lions on the top or Mount Hamilton have
been too few to admit OF the astronomers
coming to Che definite conclusions they
would be glad TO form, but with the spec
troScopes OF The Pinch and 36-inch tele-
scopes applied we are certain IN due time to
know a good deal about this strange appari-
ton. In the middle of February last the
positions of some % different bright lines
ard bands had been fixed, aud no doubt the
physicist will deduce a meaning from these
as 10 the constitution of the STAR There
are also important questions TO decide
whether the star is approaching or reced-
ing from the earth, and at what
rate; aud whether it is near enough
to the earth to show a parallax.
BIZ. Holden, reasoning from the phe-
nOmena OF other stars which have burst
into splendoT, and changed from low or
even upd!stlngulshable magnitude into q
hish one, is Of opinion that this stellar
stranger VIII vary IN brightness. He thinks
that some tremendous event IN the history
of this mass Of matter has lately occurred
by which il has suddenly been turned from
dark body into very brilliant one" Ii il
has been raised from the fourteenth to the
creased SS00-tOld at the very least. Here is
a strange spectacle in the heavens. and yet
not 50 remarkable as that Of the star in
CasSIopela. observed in 1872 by TychO
Brahe. IL was so bright rs TO be visible at
midday, and could be seen through clouds
that obscured every other star. Yet it dis
appeared IN two years, at least as bright
star, ana astronomers now recognize it as
reduced to the eleventh magnitude, still In
the place determined by Tycho Brahe.
The first announcement of the new star
was made to the astronomical world by DR..
Copeland, the Astronomer Royal of Scot
land. but the real discoyerer was Thomas
ID. Anderson. But a curious fact is that in
Photographs taken at Harvard before the
announcement. as late as last December, the
star appears, and it may be that in earlier
photographs it ie recorded. Thus its birth
Is a matter II research. Sir Robert Ball
the Astronomer Royal of Irelani, describes
the star as liberaiing vast volumes of gas in
which hydrogen Is largely present He
holds that there are very good reasons for
believing that the outbreak is due 10 col
lislon with some other body in the firma-
ment 1T is quite certain" he remarks
that among the muliitudes Of the starry
host occasions must arise when two stars
knock against each other. The speed with
which star Is won't TO pursue its way is
about one hundred times as swift as the
pace OF a rifie-bnllet There are no ma
teriais known which would not be trans
formed into glowing yapor by the fervOr
produced when body like the earth, and
moving with its speed collides with a similar
mass" As the luminosity of a star is only
matter OF temperature. this reasoning
is obvious. Tie heat and light Of
our own sun are said TO. be suS-
tanned by the condensation of its
envelope OF gas two or three hundred feet a
year. But when dark body is suddenly
raised into visible brightness 10y collision
one might expect 10 behold the second col
lidlng body also. The earth and moon
coming into collision would crash through
one another again and again by their mo-
mentum before they finally c0alesced. Has
this violent action occasioned the new star
10 burst into blaze, with tue result that
the coll.ding bodies are now united, or is
the liberation OF gas due to some internal
cataclysm? II is difficult to imagine that
the latter could occur on sufficient scale 10
account Tor the phenomena. The very dis
tance Of the star involves the question whe a
the changes happened. 1t may be SO dis
tant that IL takes 10000 years Tor its light to
reach US. In that event we 90 not see what
Is occurring now but what occurred 10000
years ago; and could we conceive the star to
be blotied out of existence we should know
nothing OF the event for q similar space of
time. The universe has no scale either as
10 time or distance.
A disgusting prominence is being given
to the enlargement which has arisen in the
| Astor family. The number of newspaper
columns daily fabricated and telegraphed
recalls the pitiful Beecher-T.lton scandal,
In which the proceedings were conducted
with the solemnity Of q court and the leyity
Of comedy combined. Beecher had a char
acter TO lose, and hence arose the tremen-
dous interest taken in the investigation
" ghnHld he nj inf
oXysms of excitement through mere news
mongsrlng about the doings of couple of
men in the fashionable world, who may be
known intimately 10 Ward McAIIister's 400
society worthless, but have never otherwise
been heard Of? The only other element of
interest is the fact that the lady WHO has
been dragged into the quarrel is the daugh-
ter Of very rich parents. At present the
aspect OF the situation is farcical. While
the principals were on their way to this
country by the same steamer, after having
had, one might conclude, abundant OPP
portunity to settle their differences in Eu-
rope, friend Of Borrowe who acted as his
second, took the liberty of cabling the
whole story OF tue quarrel to America. Thus
was all Inc lat In the IRE. and New York
turned out gleefully to see the blaze. Mr.
Drayton rests under the accusation II having
ignored the alleged misconduct of his wife
five years ago, and of having indeed made
use OF his dishOnor to obtain money from the
family. Borr0we. ii is said. came to Paris
by invitation to light. But his seconds con-
suited with the Due de Morny and another all-
thority on duclliBg who on Hypothetical ca sc
declared Drayt0n not entitled TO the satisfac-
ton of gentleman. as he ought to have
sent his challenge long ago. And now the
parties are all squabbling about how events
might have been contrived otherwise, and
= as there is to be no duel between the prin-
cipals one may come off among the subor-
dinates Ii is pretty pickle-a low comedy
in high life.