Frostburg mining journal. [volume] (Frostburg, Md.) 1871-1913, 1894-06-16
A WONDERFUL STAR.



Western Sky.
Low in the west. half hidden in the
evening twilight there may he seen
just now Il star that three hundred
years ago earned for itself the name
"I Mira. the Wonderful And It's
behavior 1T present seems To Justify
It's name. 1t is in the cOnStplla lion of
the Whale, and is known to ASTON.
onl"rS rs OmicrOn tpti. 1t is onIy
visible now for il brief period after
S'Ind"wn. when it may br seen hang
ln% llSt above the verge of the horiH, III
under Jupiter and the I'iriadcS Its
red color distinguishes it, although
higher up there is another reddish
star IN the same constellation. Last
winter the spot which this star oC-
cupirS WAS absolutely vacant to the
naked eye. But Il telescope showed
that faint star WAS glimmrrins
there. Since then that star has blazrd
up Il thouSand-fold in brightness. Now
1t shines with Il ruddy hue. suggestive
OF Il vast and fierce confngration. In
Il few weeks. probably. it will have
ladrd. but i'll the meantime the pro.
Er"SS of the seasons will have buried
u Ill the suns rays. and when it
''ln'fGts IN the east next summer no
Wv wiz b' dple 10 see II again With
ont t"lrScopic and. For Il few davS
yet "thc Marvel of the Whale" NAV
Dr diScrrncd between seven and half
past seven o'clock in the evening An
opera glass may be needed to show it
clearly in the bright twilight.
What renders this wonderful star
particularly interesting at present is
the fact that it is now brighter than
II usually is at its ma Xmum. and that
me period of maximum has been de-
iaIrd for several weeks. According to
TN" calculations of the astronomers. it
Sh"lld have been at its brightest on
FEBRUARY II. But it has continued to
grow more brlllant since that time
untll 1t has become several times as
bright as it wlS then.
1cl these facts would possess but Il
small degree of interest outside the
obS"rvatorcs if we did not know some
thing of the dimensions of the star
Mira. and of the significance of the
changes which we behold i'm it. Mira
is Il sun. and when it blazcs up. as it
Is now doing 1t must suddenly pour
fourth quantity of heat that if con-
crntrntel upon the earth at close quar-
I"rS would met it and turn it into a
not cloud. When Mira is faintcst it is
of less than the ninth magnitude;
when brightest it has been known to
'uuAl Il star of the first magnitude.
That happened in l779. when it was
IS brilliant as Aldebaran. At such il
me it emitS 1000 times as much light
rs ii does when at a minimum; 1000
times as much heat. too. probably.
Now. when it is near the third mag
ntudc. il is 300 times as bright as it
c"'nplct" cycle Of change that this
wonderful sun runs through averages
about eleven months. But for more
than tW"-thirdS of that period it re
mains faint and invisible to the naked
eye. Its Frightening begins suddenly
ma II usually gains light faster than
subsequently fades. AS it brightcns
III" blood color characteristic of its
'l-hl when ut Il minimum changes to
IN orange rcd. Its spectrum then re-
vealS the tremendous nature of the
changes that Mira is undergoing: it
becomes filled with vivid lines which
indicate that the vapOrouS envelope of
tn" star has caught fire. SO to speak,
AMI is bIrning with inconccivable in
'rnSty. hydrogen in particular flaming
h'"h above the other elements. Ac-
'"r'lin" to Mr.. Lockycr'S hypothesis.
ihrS" phenomena are produced by til"
repeated collisions of SwarmS of
m"tcorS revolving around one another
n cllip'ical orpitS. But Il more prob
able view of the matter would seem
e" b" that Mira is an expiring sun,
surrounded with Il partially cooled en-
v"lnpr of metallic vaporS whose alb
+nntion almost eXtnguiShcS its light
'N""pt at intervals. when there comes
! nf
v hin. or n heat eruption. which
'''">tS III" shell and fires its surround
in" gases to n dazzling incandeSccncc.
II we knew Just how far away Mira
is W" could tell how it compares with
tn" size of our sun We do know. how
rr"r that it is probably Il larger sun
than ours. We may fairly assume that
IS palallAN is not more than Onr-third
of Il second. which would make its
distance from the earth over :tIO.OOO
mes greater than the distance of tn"
<''n. If it is really as far off as that.
hon when it flames with the bright
u"SS of Il firSt-ma gnitudr star. it must
hr pouring out eight times as much
light as the sun gives forth. But
when it is at its minimum its light
can only be 121O of the suns light.
And in either case the intensity of its
Neat probably accordS with that of its
light.
Surely we cannot suppose that there
are inhabited worlds revolving around
such Il sun as his. But worlds may
he there that were once inhabited. Did
any prophet forewarn them of Il time
when their day-making sun would be-
come destroying furnace and their
elements would dissolve with fcrvcnt
hrat?-Ncw York Sun