Evening star., 1935-08-20
STARS, MEN AND ATOMS
Notebook of Science Progress in Field,
Laboratory and Study.
BY THOMAS r. HENRY,

A three-in-one star is being studied
by astronomers Of the Carnegie InSti-
tuition of Washington
This unique object in the constella-
ton OF AQuariuS appears like a circus
Side-Show freak of the heavens, an in
explicable hybrid of three varieties of
celestial bodies.
First and foremost. it is red star, a
little more than half as hot as the sun
on its surface, whose brightness increases
and decreases over wide range in
period Of approximately 387 days
Secondly, 1t acts like gaseous nebula,
presumably an enormous ball of gas
associated In some way with the red star.
Thirdly it displays characteristics of
a blue star belonging among the hottest
bodies in the universe. with a surface
temperature about five times that of the
sun.
1t has the spectra of all three of these
bodies. but. as reported by DR.. Paul w.
Merrill. Carnegie Institution astronomer,
1.-The three Spectra have always ap-
peared to originate in a single stellar
object" The triple nature of the body
was revealed by continuous observations
from 1919 to 1894. Stars of different
types can be distinguished by their char
acteriStic Spectra, but in this case lines
peculiar to all three appeared from time
to time, with no apparent relationship
between them except that they came
from single source of light.
y
This star, far below the limits OF
naked eye visibility, first was discovered
in 1911. 1t soon was found to vary
greatly in brightness, with brief periods
of maximum luminosity and long. fiat
periods of minima. 1t ran through its
luminosity cycle in a little over a year
and hence was classified as a long period
variable
When astronomers reached the stage
OF classifying stars this one fell easily
into the So-called M type of cool. red
stars and was so registered at Harvard
University. 1t was of essentially the
same type as the great star AntareS, one
OF the most conspicuous in the heavens.
so far as its spectrum classification was
concerned.
In 1919 Carnegie Institution aStron-
omers at the Mount Wilson Observatory
observed, in addition to the normal
spectrum of cool, red star, several lines
characteristic of a gaseous nebula. This
in itself was unusual, although other
examples were known. But during the
following year long series of photo
graphs of the combination showed that
the nebular lines, instead of sharing the
changes of intensity exhibited by the
spectrum of the variable star as its
magnitude rose and fell in the regular
light cycle, remained at approximately
constant intensity. In later years the
nebular lines became fainter and prac-
tically disappeared at times, but still
no connection could be traced between
their intensity and the fluctuating
brightness of the red variable.
Here was an extraordinary phenome-
mona constant source Of light and q
regularly fiuctuating source of light in
what was apparently one and the same
object. Thus it continued until 1922
when third element of the same COM
plex first was observed. This was still
another spectrum, totally different from
the other two. 1t was a spectrum pc
culiar to stars having an enormously
high temperature, marked by bright
lines Of hydrogen. helium and iron. It
belonged to either the p or 3 type OF