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The Daily Mercury.SATURDAY. MARCH 18. 1930.THE VARIABLE STARS.()NE of tha Arst things the young amateur asks. when he becomes infected with the enthusiasm which a prellmlnr , study of the stars never falls to arouse, la: How can 1 assist? With ao many well equipped observatories stafTed by efficient observers, la It any use for a man with only a small telescope to attempt to add to the stock of astronomical knowledge? The answer la that In the variable aura there is a limitless supply of work available for the amateur, and Indeed It. is work which, by reason of the time and patience required. Is much more suitable for the amateur than for the professional, whose routine tasks leave little leisure for this extremely Interesting but time-consuming occupation. Both In Britain and In America, as well as In several of the European States, there are active and populous soclettes established for no other purpose than the observation of variable stars. Each member Is allotted a star or two to watch, and the results are published In the special Journals that undertake the task.£T was In 1598 that a Ocrman clergyman named Fabridus noticed that one of the atara in the constellation of the Whale was brighter than a well-known neighbor. Alpha of the Ram. Observing It again In September, he found to his surprise that the light had waned, and It kept on waning until hi October it had vanished altogether. This astonishing feature led him to name the object •’Mira—the Wonder-star. Subsequent observation proved that It runs through Its extraordinary changes in 331 days, in which period Its Ugh: varies from the second to the tenth magnitude—the latter state being far below the limit of naked-eye visibility. Seventy-three years later, a second fluctuating light was discovered In the constellation Perseus by Montanarl. although the fact that the Arabs had already bestowed upon It the name of Algol, tho Demon, indicates that Its mysterious blinking was familiar to eastern watchers nt some far earlier date. The variability of Algol was of a different order from that of Mira, since its fluctuations, between the second and the fourth magnitude, recurred with the utmost precision every 2 days 20 hours 4fi minutes 51 seconds. Every one knows now that the explanation of the Demon Is quite• Imnlv (h*t •» (» n r»«-whose two suns circle round each other In an orbit that Is end-on to the earth, so that the darker companion comes In between us and the brighter one every two days or so, eclipsing a part of Its light. Such systems are not true variable stars, of the type of Mira, whereof the mystery still awaits Its solution.
Newspaper Details
Mackay Daily Mercury
Mackay, Queensland, AU
Sat, Mar 18, 1939
Page 11
Full Page
Clipped by
Chase H.
NA, 06 Mar 2024
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