The New York herald., 1922-07-02
Wonders ofDuplicate Suns Described
BY j. s. PLASKETT,

Director Dominion Astrophysical OBJ
Serpdtory, Victoria, B. @.
Special Dispatch to THE New York HERALD.
Copyright. 1929, bv THE New YORK HERALD
VICTORIA. B. c., July 1.-The discov-
cry and investigation by the writer of
an exceptionally massive and bright
double star and the known and de-
duced facts about this extraordinary
system were presented at the last
meeting of the Royal Astronomical
Society at London, and short sum-
mary in plain language of what We
know about this body should be of
interest to all readers of THE NEW
York HERALD.
The discovery. If such 1t may be
called, is not of the star itself, for this
has been catalogued and its position
known for at least seventy years, but
of it's exceptional properties. The star
is situated in the constellation Mono
| ceros, which is adjacent to the east
to the constellation Orion, the most
beautiful and conspicuous group of
stars in the sky. Orion is, however, a
winter constellation, and is now in the
same longitude as the sun and lost
in his brightness. This is about ten de-
grees from the bright red star Betel-
geuse. Alpha Orionis. the one whose
diameter has recently been measured
at Mount Wilson, and is on a line
drawn between Betelgeuse and Pro-
cyon, nearly midway between the two,
actually about two-fifths of the dis
tance from Betelgeuse.
just beyond the Naked Eye.
Unlike Betelgeuse, which is a con-
spicuous object above Orion's belt,
this star is just beyond naked eye Wis
ibility except to the keenest eyesight
on the clearest night. Even If it
could be seen there is nothing to dis
tinguish it from the two thousand
other stars ;.bout the same brightness
in the sky that are visible here. New
ertheless it Is a most extraordinary
object when its properties are known.
If the star is observed visually or
photographed ii exhibits no particular
properties to distinguish ii from thou
sands of other stars in the sky. 1t is
only when it's light is analyzed by the
spectroscope that we begin to realize
wherein it differs from its neighbors.
When the light of a star is analyzed
by the spectroscope and the spectrum
recorded on a Photographic plate we
possess a wonderful fund of inforina-
ton about the star. The star spectrum
is crossed by greater or less number
of spectrum lines, generally dark lines,
rather rarely bright lines.
The positions of these lines tell us
what elements are present in the
atmosphere of the star, for the stars
are gaseous and at high temperatures,
and also the speed with which the
star is approaching or receding from
us. The relative intensity OF these
spectral lines enables us to determine
in many stars how far away these
bodies are, while the relative strength
OF different parts of the spectrums
tells us how hot the star is.
Further information in regard to
pressure and electrical condition can
sometimes be obtained. 1t was when
the light from this ordinary looking
star was analysed by the spectroscope
that the unique properties about TO be
discussed were discovered.
The first spectrum was photo
graphed On December 16, 1921, and
the lines in the spectrum showed that
there were present in its outer lumin-
GUS atmosphere the elements hydro
gen, helium. nitrogen, silicon, calcium
and possibly oxygen and magnesium.
Further. the general character of the
spectrum as regards the intensity or
the different parts and the arrange
ment and strength of the elements
present show that the star was an
example of a rather rare class of stars,
believed to be not only the very hottest
of the stars but also the most mas
sive. We have good reason to believe
that this star is at temperature OF
about 10000 degrees Fahrenheit, sew
eral times as hot as IL is possible to
obtain heat i'm our laboratories, and
that it is also consequently very
bright.
We have good evidence TO show
that II we consider two small areas of
this star and our Sun-say a square
inch on each--the amount of light
given out for square inch on the
star would be about forty times as
great as the amount Of light from a
square inch Of the sun. That is to say.