Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1910-08-08
MYSTERY OF SKIES
Much Speculation Regarding
the Variable Stars.
MORE THAN 200 LISTED
Algol and Mira Are Best Known of
the Whole Number.
THEORY CONFIRMED BY THEM
By Edwin Fairfax Naulty.

ny 1aW1n kalr1ax Naulty.
Prof. Sees theory that the moon Is, or
was, planet captured by the earth
and reduced to the rank OF satellite,
mas much to commend it as a hypothe-
Sis. and In many respects this theory is
Tar more reasonable one than the
otner' which assumes the earth to be the
cosmic mother of the moon, the celestial
oarth having taken place ages since, when
the earth was-n molten state, but his
recent announcement of the cause of
variable stars, IT he be correctly report
ca IN the dispatch printed In the Star,
aoes not carry the same interest as his
lunar theory.
one Of the greatest mysteries Of tho
heavens is the variation in the appear
ahce or certain stars. OF these variable
stars there are over 200 listed. and of
.,lis number Upton gives elghty-two
list tm tine ted IN his his catalogue. OF Upton
Beta Persei and Mira or Ceti. Algol
used to be called the demon star and
MIRA was named the wonderful by the
arabs; Algol appears as a star Of the
Second s magnitude, Or about as bright as
the stars forming the handle of the great
upper, for about sfxty-one hours, then
IL begins to dim and decreases to the
1ourth magnitude in less than four hours.
IL remains thus dimmed for about TWEEN
iHinxtes, when 1t begins to brighten,
anu III 1our hours more it comes back to
the second magnitude again. Mira's Pc
floo Is longer, covering 331 plus DAYS in
mean value. but varying twenty-five
Gays more or less from it's mean period.
VITA oeglns as star Of the second mag
hitude, and remains SO for about a fort
night 1t slowly decreases in brightness
LOT three months, at the end of which
tIme IL becomes, invisible to the naked
eye ana SHOWS In a powerful telescope
t as oeIWeen the ninth and tenth magni-
luoe. 1t remains invisible to the eve for
nve months. when it again family ap-
pears and increases in brightness for
tnree months, when it reaches its great
est spiendor again. Neither Algol nor
~ ~ decreases or increases in brightness
IN regular scale. Nor do they always
reach the same maximum oof brilliancy.
In the East in July.
In July both Algol and Mira are in the
eastern Sky, and their place can be found
IL one wants to take the trouble. Algors
precise position is three hours two min
utes right ascension, and forty degrees
ana thirty-four minutes declination. Mira
Is Two hours and fourteen minutes right
ascension and minus three degrees and
.wTenly-sx minutes declination. A sim
PIE way to find Algol is to locate Polaris.
the north star, and next the brightest of
the Two stars that form the end of the
DoWl OF the little dipper. Project a line
through these two stars to the eastward
little more than three times the dis
lance Polaris and Beta are apart, and
you will locate Algol Do not confuse
the brilliant Capella with Algol. Con-
tinuing your projected line toward the
horizon about as far below Algol as 1t
Is from Polaris, you will find Mira's
place. Having once located them you
can study them at will.
To understand what variable means,
suppose our sun to vary from its size
and brilliancy in mid-Jiine at noon to
one-quarter its size and one-sixteenth It's
brilliancy at o'clock, and to return to
its noon appearance at o'clock, and you
have Algol. II our sun had huge
planet revolving around 1t between 1t and
the earth. the planet being three-fourths
the size Of the sun, making its journey
In its orbit around the sun once every
seventy hours and taking nine hours to
pass between the earth and sun, we
should have q phenomenon In our solar
system much like what appears to take
place In the system Of Algol. Because
our system has no such monstrous solar
companion is no reason that other suns
may be similarly limited. It Is absolutely
known that the gigantic Sirius has
dark companion in revolution around 1t,
but as this planet companion Of Sirius
does not pass between us and Sirius It's
passage does not obscure the light OF
Sirius. 1t is easy to conceive that to
some world in another system, in syzygy
with Sirius and his dark companion,
Sirius may appear as variable star
Of astounding splendor.