El Paso herald. (El Paso, Tex.) 1901-1931, 1919-09-06

I a part Of the nebular system and not
merely visible in its apparent place
I 1y meaningless coincidence Of line
I OF sight
The wideflung constellation Of Pc
gasus. the Flying Horse, is now clear
! OF the horizon at map time. The
three brightest stars OF this group
d TIE rrightest in the neighboring
-roup OF Andromeda form the famous
configuration known as the Great
Square OF Pegasus"
A Famous NebuIa.
Within Andromeda Is the famous
nebula which we discussed IN detail
last month. To the northeast Is Per
seus. The second brightest OF this
group is named Algol and Is one Of
the most interesting stars IN the
whole heavens because the peculiar
variations in brightness of this star
gave rise to the now we'll established
eclipse" theory Of variable stars. We
would call attention to the fact that
the word variable is always used by
the astronomers in reference to the
brightness and never in connection
with a change in apparent position.
Alg0l, the Demon, is like Beta Lyrae
above. really a double star composed
Of a brighter and a darker component
The latter Is the smaller OF the two
and passes around the larger with
brightness as seen by Us takes place
every . days and p hours approx
mately. IN about nine hours the
brightness drops from the second to
3.5. a loss OF about SIS OF its light.
A few details Of this distant system
are known to us: the distance be-
tween the centers OF the two bodies
is about 100000 miles and their
diameters are 100000 and S00.O05
miles, respectively: the brighter one
is twice as heavy as the smaller.
Seeking a New Planet.
The attention Of astronomers IS
called to the fact that Neptune has
recently begun TO deviate from the
place II should occupy IN accordance
with Newcomb's elements, and is now
gradually falling behind its computed
position, in the manner Il should do
If perturbed by some unknown body.
states a recent Harvard Circular. L
is calculated that the unknown body
should be found IN right ascension
Oh. som declination north % degrees
at its opposition on December 80. 1913.
This would place It about Is degrees I
west Of Pollux, the first magnitude
star in Gemini, which will be plainly
in view in the evening sky on that
date. and afford convenient oppor-
tunity for telescope observes to
pick up the new world, which, how
SCISSORS Of large telescopes, as the
planet is estimated to be about the
size OF the earth, and viii appear (
about the size Of a fifteenth magni- I
tude star. which would require a six
teen inch telescope to resolve it It
will be difficult to Identify. not only
on account Of its faintness, but also
because II IS surrounded by countless
stars in the Milky Way several magni-
fudes brighter than itself
The unknown body VIII doubtless
be searched for and discovered photo /
graphically.
Visible OSCILLATIONS Of AlgOl.
The following gives the visible min I
lima Of the occultations Of the vari-
able star Algol for the season Of 1873 (
1920. The time given is the middle
OF the occultation, which begins five
hours earlier and lasts five hours
later than the hours indicated.
The ephemeris has been corrected 4
by the accumulated acceleration Of
the stars former period of revolution (
which now brings the minima one I
hour earlier than the standard tables. 4
Algol is visible evenings IN the ,
northeast in the fail. overhead in the 4
winter, and In the northwest IN March /
and April