SOME RECENT ASTRONOMICAL EVENTS. 167 



nature, for either would give a continuous spectrum such as he 

 observed. Yet he may have additional evidence, of which I am not 

 aware, in support of this conclusion. 



Mr. Perrine has noted the very interesting Pact that ;i certain dis- 

 turbed region of the corona fell directly over the only sun spot which 

 appeared on the sun within a week or more of the eclipse. 



After the eclipse was over we spent the days in packing the instru- 

 ments, the nights in developing the photographs, and were ready to 

 leave the island by May 28. On the night before our departure Mr. 

 Veth, the United States consular agent, as a last proof of his great 

 kindness, gave a reception to the American and English astronomers 

 and naval officers. This function was extremely enjoyable and was 

 participated in by the officials of the Dutch Government and by the 

 society of Padang, and gave us a feeling that however inhospitable to 

 astronomers could be the climate of Sumatra, yet the kindness of its 

 people went far to atone for it. 



6. THE NEW STAR IN PERSEUS. 



The greatest interest, both among astronomers and the public, was 

 excited by the announcement of the discovery on February 21, 1901, 

 at 14 hours 10 minutes Greenwich mean time, by Dr. T. D. Anderson, 

 of Edinburgh, Scotland, of a new star in Perseus. This star at the 

 time of its discovery was of the 2.7 magnitude and shone with a 

 bluish white light, It rapidly increased in brightness until on Feb- 

 ruary 23 it reached the 0.0 magnitude, and was then brighter than 

 any fixed star in the heavens with the exception of Sirius and Canopus. 

 An immediate search on the plates taken at the Harvard College 

 Observatory showed that on February 2, 6, 8, 18, and 19, 1901 — that is 

 to say. up to within two da} r s of the star's discovery by Dr. Anderson — 

 there was no object there as bright as the 10.5 magnitude. 



The duration of extreme brightness of Nova Persei was but 

 temporary, for on reaching its maximum, on February 23, it imme- 

 diately commenced to decline, and by February 28 had reached the 

 second magnitude, when, after a slight increase in brightness, it again 

 declined nearly continuously until March 18, when it had reached the 

 fifth magnitude. Then began a series of great fluctuations of a some- 

 what periodic nature, with maxima about two days apart, so that, for 

 instance, on the 19th of March the star was of the 6.5 magnitude, 

 while on the 21st it was of the 4.7 magnitude, a variation of nearly 600 

 per cent. These fluctuations continued with more or less regularity, 

 though with a gradually increasing interval between them, until the 

 middle of the summer, when the brightness became fairly steady at 

 the sixth to seventh magnitude, and since then there have been no very 

 considerable alterations. The illustration (Plate VI) taken from 



