THE NEW STAR. 
177 
the northwest, at an altitude of about forty or fortyfive de¬ 
grees at about eight o’clock. Alpha Persei, Algol and 
Epsilon Persei form a very conspicuous triangle, Alpha 
and Algol being about ten degrees apart and Epsilon 
about ten or twelve degrees above them. The new star, 
called Nova Persei, is almost in the exact center of this 
triangle and is of a reddish tint. Perhaps it can be more 
easily located by drawing a line from Alpha Persei to the 
Pleiades, which are at this time exactly in the west and at 
about the same altitude. Nova is the first star in that line, 
starting from Alpha, and is about five degrees from the lat¬ 
ter. 
This is not the only instance of the sudden ‘ ‘blazing up, ” 
as it were, of a new star, as there have been recorded some¬ 
thing like fifteen or sixteen in all. It should be said in 
passing, however, that, although these stars are called 
Novse, the Eatin for new, astronomers do not regard them 
as new, but merely as members of the class called varia¬ 
bles, with a long period. The last one before this, visible 
to the naked eye, was in December, 1891, and was in the 
constellation Auriga. Singularly enough, this same Dr. 
Anderson also discovered this one independently in the fol¬ 
lowing February. Nova Aurigae, at its brightest, was be¬ 
tween the fifth and sixth magnitudes, or just about like 
Nova Persei at the present time. In 1895 the former had 
diminished to between the tenth and eleventh magnitudes, 
where it has since steadily remained as a nebulous star. 
The most famous of these so-called new stars was the one 
observed and chronicled by the astronomer Tycho Brahe, 
in 1572, in the constellation Cassiopeia. This was said to 
be the equal of the planet Venus when at her greatest bril¬ 
liancy, and remained visible about sixteen months, gradu¬ 
ally diminishing in brightness. The most prominent one 
in recent times was one that appeared in May, 1866, in the 
constellation Corona Borealis, and was discovered by five 
observers independently. It is of special interest as having 
