MARY W. WHITNEY. 949 
must be about the sixth, its minimum lower than the 
twelfth. Its minimum occurred in July and its maxi- 
mum probably about the time of its discovery, Decem- 
ber 13, 1885. The question naturally arises, ‘‘ How has 
this star escaped detection, since good star catalogues 
contain stars as low as the tenth in magnitude?’ The 
most probable explanation is, that at those periods 
when this portion of the heavens was examined by the 
various astronomers who have built up catalogues, the 
star was passing through its minimum. Duner assumed 
for the time being that the period is a little less than a 
- year, and he placed the maximum at 1885, December 
15, plus three hundred fifty-nine days. On this basis, 
he showed that at the time, when these Orion stars 
were being catalogued by Laland, Bessel and Argelan- 
der, the newly-discovered star was considerably re- 
moved from its maximum brightness. The last maxi- 
mum occurred on or about December 12, 1886; there- 
fore its period appears to be somewhat less than a year, 
as Duner supposed. The Potsdam observer thinks its 
color at the last maximum was less ruddy than at its 
discovery. 
I have been observing the Wova Orionis at varying in- 
tervals since its last maximum. It is now about the 
8.6 magnitude, a red star, clear and sharp in definition. 
Early in February I could not detect any change for 
several days. Miller, at Potsdam, noticed a similar 
break in the decrease of light at about the same time 
last year ; also another during March. 
Without doubt, therefore, the Nova Orionis is a varia- 
ble and not a veritable new star. But what is the Vova 
Andromede ? This question is not so easily answered. 
We must call it a temporary according to our definition, 
but is it of like nature with 7 Corone and V Cygni? 
Spectrum analysis must decide this question, if decided 
at all. 
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