Gore — On Known Variable Stars. 

 The following are some observed Minima of Mira Ceti 



171 





Date 









Year. 



of 



Brightness. 



Authorit}-. 



Remarks. 





Minimum. 









1863. 



Feb. 11 





Schmidt. 



{ 



Very little brighter than the 



1865. 



Oct. 6 





" \ 



companion, and distinctlj- 

 red yellow. 



1866. 



Oct. 22 





" 





1873. 



Jan. 1 7 



8'7 mag. 



Schonfeld. 





1873. 



Dee. 30 



8-9 „ 



„ 





1874. 



Nov. 20 



8-6 „ 



( 



About the same brightness 



1875. 



Oct. 30 





Schmidt. I 



as the companion; at no 









time fainter. 



1882. 



Feb. 4 



9-5 



" 





On Sth JSTovember, 1876, I found Mira about 9 m. and fiery red 

 (3-inch refractor). A curious observation is mentioned with reference 

 to Mira by Mr. E. F. Sawyer, the well-known American observer 

 {Observatory, June, 1879). It is to the effect that Mr. W. K. Greely, 

 of Boston, U. S., in August, 1871 (about two months before the 

 maximum of that year), observed Mira as bright as a star of the 

 second magnitude, and that a few nights afterwards it had faded to 

 4 m. or 5 m. As, however, Mr. Greely was not a regular observer, 

 and had made no record of his observation in writing, the accuracy of 

 the observation seems very doubtful. If true, however (as Mr. Sawyer 

 seems to think), it was a very remarkable occurrence, as no irregularity 

 of the kind has ever been previously observed in the case of Mira. 



In several books on astronomy it is stated that Mira was invisible 

 at the epoch of Maxima during the years 1672 to 1676; but this is 

 incorrect, as it was long since (Ast. Nach. Modena, 1837) pointed out 

 by Bianchi that the supposed invisibility of Mira was simply due to 

 the fact that in those years the Maxima occurred at a time of year 

 when the star was near the sun, and could not be observed. 



On October 30, 1779, Sir W. Herschel observed Mira Ceti "of a 

 middle size between Aldebaran and a Arietis " ; and on November 2 

 its lustre was still increased " {Phil. Trans. 1780, p. 342). 



15. S Peesei. — According to Schonfeld, a Maximum occurred in 

 December, 1873; but no approximation to correct Elements is yet 

 possible. A 10'2 m. star, nf. 



