Hopkinsville Kentuckian. [volume] (Hopkinsville, Ky.) 1889-1918, 1902-12-12
AsrRoNOMY WITHOUT A LENS.
Importance to Science Of the Discovery
Of New Stars.

N"APvAeoASS " SSASHCS VI the discovery
Of New Stars.
3. Walter Maunder, in knowledge,
writes Of the interest awakened by
the discovery Of new stars: "Theap-
pearance Of a new star has mall ages
been felt to be an impressive occur
renee. The constellation groupings
are SO permanent in their character
that to see Of a sudden some old, IA
mlliar pattern among the stars
changed in its features by The sudden
appearance of a new member. a star
like the other stars and not a planet,
1or its place undergoes no change
Is so at variance with our ordinary ex-
perience that it is no wonder that our
forefathers regarded such an eyentas
partaking of the supernatural.
In the times before the telescope
indeed, we might go further and
say in the times before the spectre
scope-such an event brought no in
formation with it. 1t was impress
siye, it excited curiosity, but it con-
yeyed scarcely any lesson. The spec
troscopic examination of new stars
on the other hand, has been extraor-
dinarily fruitful, though we are
very far from being able to fathom
the exact meaning of the facts which
we have observed.
Zone thing is clear, namely, that
bodies appearing so suddenly as new
stsrs' have always done, and fading
away again SO quickly, must differ
entirely from the great host of per-
stars. And yet we cannot but !
feel that the changes through which |
q new star may pass in a few weeks, |
and the order in which those changes |
succeed each other, may throw some
K IS upon the changes which have |
marked in the past, or will mark in
the future, the life history of the
more stable members of the heavenly :
host. It'll this thought which makes
the watch for new stars of such i'm
portance. They offer to US a key !,
which, however imperfect, is the only
one which we can hope to find to UNI
lock the secrets Of stellar evolution.
"And that the new star may give
us the fullest information within its
power, it is essential that it be sub
ected to the scrutiny of the spectre
scope while its light is still on the
Increase. The Importance, there
ore, of a stringent watch on the heav-
ems does not lie at all in the eclat
which will justly attach to the OBJ
server who is fortunate enough to
be the first to detect a stellar out
burst, but in the supreme impor-
lance that not one Of the few short |
hours during which the stars light /
Is on the upgrade may be unnecessa-
lily wasted.
"The most famous ofall new stars
5, Of course, the one which appeared
n the constellation Cassiopeia in No
yember, 1879, and which is always as
ociated with the name of Tycho
}rabe, since though he was not actu-
lily the first to discover it, he has left
is the fullest and most systematic
observations of it. 1t was lost to
light in March, 1874, after having
,een visible for II months. Thirty
ears later another new star ap-
feared, only less famous than the
Nova Of Cassiopeia This one was
lso observed for Il months, and j,
lways associated with the name Of
Lepler, though its actual discoverer
vas not Kepler himself, but one of hi,
'upils, John Bronowski. It's position
'as in the right foot Of Ophiuchus."