Bed Stars. 119 



RED STARS. 



G-keat interest attaches to red stars,, not only from their 

 extreme beauty when seen through a good telescope in con- 

 trast with a dark clear sky, but also from the changes which 

 many of them undergo. Our numerous readers who possess 

 telescopes will therefore be gratified with the following 

 abridged list of solitary red stars published by Dr. Schjellerup 

 in the Astronomische Nachrichten, No. 1591. We have omitted 

 all the stars he mentions below the eighth magnitude (except 

 some of the variables), as ordinary telescopes cannot exhibit 

 them satisfactorily ; and in consideration of the wants of sub- 

 scribers living in more southern lands, we have inserted many 

 stars not visible in this country. Those who possess equatorial 

 telescopes will find the red stars without difficulty, and those 

 who are not so provided will be able to trace their position 

 on a map, and thus learn where to point their instruments in 

 search of them. 



Dr. Schjellerup remarks on the general interest excited by 

 red stars, and he observes that with few exceptions variable 

 stars are reddish, either constantly, or at some period of their 

 transition. When changes of colour occur at definite periods 

 in variable stars we may expect that interesting information 

 concerning them may be afforded by the spectroscope. 



As the following list contains the great majority of the 

 solitary stars mentioned by Dr. Schjellerup, it follows that the 

 majority of these bodies at present known are of the eighth 

 magnitude and upwards ; and the reader will notice how large 

 a proportion range between the seventh and eighth magnitudes. 

 Sir J. Herschel mentions an 8*5 mag. star, RA. 12 h 39 m 15 D. 

 — 58° 55' 7 as the "most intense blood red " of any star he has 

 seen, and it will be found from the list that stars approaching 

 this tint are rare. Observers who use reflectors for their 

 observations will find the colours more exactly seen when a 

 glass prism is used instead of a smooth mirror, and achromatic 

 eye-pieces like those of Mr. Browning will (with reflectors) be 

 more reliable than Huyghenian. 



Schj. 340 : red. 



Bessel : red. 



Argelander : very red. 



8 Pise. Hind : reddish. 



h. 101 : red star. 7.5. 45° s.p. Accord- 

 ing to d' Arrest, in 1864, Sept. 25, this 

 star was 9 mag. 



Cape Obs. : most beautiful orange red. 



B Pise. Hind : fiery looking. 



HA. 1860. 

 h m s 



Decl. 1860. 



O 1 



Mag. 



51 41 



1 8 27 

 1 9 42 

 1 10 15 

 1 13 47 



— 6 38,2 

 +25 1,6 

 +46 57,5 

 + 8 11,5 

 + 6 17,0 



8 



8 



7-5 

 var. 

 neb. 



1 20 32 

 1 23 25 



—33 16,6 

 + 2 9,5 



6 



V 



