ASTRONOMICAL PROGRESS IN 1900-1901. 



a temporary star, as we lately have been. The and every moving object a trail, the length of 

 phenomena outlined above would also be observed which will depend on the length of time of ex- 



harid, 



should the star pass through a gaseous nebula in- 

 stead of a cornet. On Feb. 24, at noon, the nova 



posure and its velocity. On the other 

 should the camera be held on the moving object, 



reached its maximum of brightness, and then be- all tiie stars will likewise leave trails on the plate, 



fan to decline. From 3.6 magnitude on March 

 8, the star fell to 5.2 the next day, or 1.0 magni- 

 tude in twenty-four hours. The nova now flashed 



their lengths depending on their polar distance 

 and time of exposure. If the moving object be 

 examined by a telescope, it will be found to be an 



up again and was 3.6 on March 20, and then de- asteroid, a cOmet, a satellite, or a planet, 

 creased to 5.5 on the 22d; and the next day it had Formerly the asteroids were searched for by the 

 again risen to 3.7, and thus it fluctuated. Spec- telescope, and a long watch was kept up to detect 



motion of anything in the field. They are now 

 searched for by the trail process, which results in 

 the frequent discovery of new ones. Since 1900 



troscopically it presented several features never 

 before observed in any temporary star. Its spec- 

 trum in many respects resembles that of other 



temporary stars that have appeared in the past twelve new minor planets have been discovered, 

 fifteen years, being not quite continuous, but which are numbered from 452 to 466 inclusive, 

 crossed by broad hydrogen and helium lines, each Those designated FB, FO, FR, and FT were 

 consisting of a bright component toward the red found, on computing their orbits, to be identical, 

 end, and a dark component toward the violet end. Solar Motion in Space, or Solar Apex. 

 It is a striking spectrum even with a small spec- Among the marvels of astronomy is the well- 

 troscope, the bright C line in particular being quite established fact that the Sun, like a mighty loco- 

 conspicuous, but the D line less prominent. In motive, is traveling toward the stars in a certain 

 the past fourteen years, or since the general ap- region of the sky, as determined by the speetro- 

 plication of photography to astronomy, eight new scope, hauling the entire solar system at the rate 

 stars are known to have appeared viz., Nova of 8 to 12 miles a second. Whether it be mov- 

 Persei in 1887; Nova Aurigae in 1891; Nova ing in a straight line or an orbital curve is un- 

 Normae in 1893; Nova Carinae in 1895; Nova Cen- known. It is the opinion of many that its path 

 tauri in 1895; Nova Sagittarii in 1898; Nova is orbital, and that the cluster called the seven 



Aquillae in 1899; and Nova Persei in 1901. The 

 second and last of these, which were much 

 brighter .than the others, were both discovered by 

 Dr. Anderson. All the others were found by Mrs. 

 Fleming from an examination of the Draper Me- 

 morial Photographs. The helium and hydrogen 

 lines of the last were persistent, but during 

 its bright career its spectrum exhibited three 

 distinct phases of change. At first the gen- 

 eral appearance of the photographic spectrum 



stars, or Pleiades, is the center around which it 

 is revolving, in a period of millions of years. Be- 

 hind the area occupied by them the photographic 

 plate, with a long exposure, depicts the existence 

 of 2,326 stars. The point toward which the solar 

 system is moving (in our age) is in right ascen- 

 sion 18k 36m, declination north 19 58'; or, in the 

 constellation Hercules, nearly 19 degrees south of 

 Alpha Lyra or Vega. . These deductions are by 

 Prof. W. W. Campbell, director of Lick Observa- 



resembled that of the Orion type, and was very tory. In the January number of the Astrophysical 



Journal he describes his method of procedure. 

 His results have been obtained by measuring the 

 velocity of recession or approach of certain se- 



unlike that of other new stars in which the 

 bright lines were the most conspicuous. On some 

 occasions the spectrums of temporary stars 

 change to that of a gaseous nebu- 

 la. Nova Auriga had a double 

 spectrum of lines and bands. 

 The displacement of the lines 

 toward the red indicated a veloc- 

 ity from us, in the line of sight, 

 of 500 miles a second; while the 

 bands, by their displacement to- 

 ward the violet, showed a rapid 

 motion toward us, as if the star, 

 moving from us, had plunged 

 into some nebulous object mov- 

 ing toward us, causing the 

 double spectrum. Nova Auriga 

 was visible in November, 1901, 

 as a faint nebulous star. The 



temporary star of 1885 appeared FIG. 1. FEBRUARY 20, 1901. 

 exactly in the center of the 

 great nebula in Andromeda, one 

 of the six nebulas visible to the 



naked eye, but whether it in any way was con- lected stars by means of the spectroscope, 

 nected with the nebula is unknown. 



Prof. T. E. Espin calls attention to the anoma- 



18:41 



TO 19 : 17 G. M. T. POWER, 500 ; 

 SEEING, 3. A. E. D. 



FIG. 2. JUNE 5, 1901. 13:45 TO 

 14 : 1 G. M. T. POWER, 371 ; 

 SEEING, 5. P. L. 



He 



has, in all, employed 280 stars in his most recent 

 research, and, as a final result, he finds that the 



lous fact that from right ascension xix hours to point in the heavens toward which he supposes 



xxi hours, there are 13 planetary nebulae, and in 

 all the other xxii hours there are but 11, and in 



the solar system to be travelling is as given 

 above. This is about 15 degrees south of the solar 



this small portion of the sky nearly all the new apex as calculated by Prof. Simon Newcomb. 



stars have appeared. 



Mars. Astronomers have been too intensely 



Star Trails. Owing to the rotation of the occupied with the new star and the variation of 



Earth from west to east, all the stars appear to 

 make a daily revolution around the sky from 

 east to west. If, therefore, a photograph camera 



Eros in brilliance to devote much attention to 

 Mars. But the newspapers have not been back- 

 ward in publishing " messages from Mars," a serf- 



be accurately pointed to any starf and exactly sational and misleading title. What Prof. Doug- 

 held on the guiding cross of spider threads in the las saw, and what he announced, was a cloud 

 pointer, the plate will show every star a point, lighted up by the setting sun, which was visible 



