New-York tribune., 1901-11-17
A STRANGE CELESTIAL EPISODE.

The announcement made last week from the
Lick Observatory concerning the star
which appeared few months ago In the con-
stellation of Perseus Is the second which has
lent unique interest TO thnt object. In the rapid
dmnution Of its brilliancy almost Immediately
after discovery. the irregular fashion In which
It waned the exhibition of two different spectra
and the final predominance of the spectrum Of
a nebula the latest nova" resembed others
which have been observed within the last TWEEN
ty-five years. But the appearance Of nearly
circular nebua which could be photographed
surrounding the star, is a distinct novelty in
astronomical history. Tha: revelation. made
by the new reflector at the 1erkes Observatory
in September. was we'll calculated to excite
amaZcment And now it is followed by another
which is equally exceptional. Professor Camp
bell declares that the starlike condensation at
the centre has moved in the last six weeks, and
that the distance traversed exceeds minute
of arc. Corroboratve testimony comes from
Professor Hale, at Williams Bay. who adds
that the gauzy envelope is now apparently ex-
panding in all directions.
The remarkable nature of the phenomenon de-
scribed by Professor Campbell will he recog-
nzed more clearly when it is compared with
other observed motions in the sky. The aver
age displacement of first magnitude stars in
whose position any alteration has been detected
is onefonrth of a second a year. That of
ArcturuS is two seconds, while the largest
proper motion yet noticed is about eight
Now, the change observed Mount Hamilton
is more than minute in six weeks, or at least
seventy times as great as any hitherto observed
in objects beyond the solar system. Measure
ments of this kind cannot be converted into
miles without some estimate of the distance of
star from the earth. In n few cases, however
the astronomers have secured evidence of veloci-
ties of hundreds Of miles a second. The recent
movement of Nova Persei, therefore If real
might have been between five thousand and
fifty thousand miles second, speed that the
bodest imagination can scarcely grasp.
There is some rea son, though, to suspect that
this extraordinary event, while accurately re-
ported, was not what 1t seemed to be-a bodily
transfer Of matter through space Would star
remain in substantially the same spot for seven
months and then abruptly leap forward like
grasshopper? 1t is easier to believe that there
merely change in the region Of grea test
luminosity in a comparatively stationary and
almost invisible cloud Of dust or gas, due In
turn to the irregular progress of a heat wave
therein. One of the theories advanced to &C.
count for the outbreak and subsequent behavior
of new star Is that it is the product of col
lison between dead, cold SUM- flying through
space at enormous speed. and q practically in
visible nebula Friction would develop heat
precisely as when tiny bit of stone enters the
earth's atmosphere at high velocity and heat
would cause incandescence. But inasmuch as
nebulR very unsymmetrical in shape and
perhaps unequal in density. the luminous effects
of collision might betray more or less eccen-