(1) When the magnitudes of the components are equal, or approaching equality, the colors are generally the same, or similar.
(2) When the magnitudes of the components differ considerably, there is also a considerable difference in color.
A new class of binary stars has been discovered within the last few years by means of the spectroscope. These have been called “spectroscopic binaries,” and the brighter component of Castor, referred to above, is an example of the class. They are supposed to consist of two component stars, so close together that the highest powers of the largest telescopes fail to show them as anything but single stars. Indeed, the velocities indicated by the spectroscope show that they must be so close that the components must forever remain invisible by the most powerful telescopes which could ever be constructed by man. In some of these remarkable objects, the doubling of the spectral lines indicates that the components are both bright bodies, but in others, as in Algol, the lines are merely shifted from their normal position, not doubled, thus denoting that one of the components is a dark body. In either case, the motion in the line of sight can be measured by the spectroscope, and we can, therefore, calculate the actual dimensions of the system in miles, and thence its mass in terms of the sun’s mass, although the star’s distance from the earth remains unknown. Judging, however, from the brightness of the star, and the character of its spectrum, we can make an estimate of its probable distance from the earth.
The bright star Spica has also been found by the spectroscope to be a close binary star. Vogel finds a period of four days with a distance between the components of about 6¼ millions of miles, and assuming that the components have equal mass and are moving in a circular orbit, he finds the mass of the system about 2.6 times the mass of our sun. In addition to its orbital motion, Vogel finds that Spica is approaching the sun at the rate of over nine miles per second.
To ordinary observers, the light of the stars seems to be constant. Even to those who are familiar with the constellations, the stars appear to maintain their relative brilliancy unchanged. To a great extent this is, of course, true; the great majority of the stars remaining of the same brightness from day to day, and from year to year. There are, however, numerous exceptions to this rule. Many of the stars, when carefully watched, are found to fluctuate in their light, being sometimes brighter and sometimes fainter. These are known as “variable stars”—one of the most interesting class of objects in the heavens. Some of these have been known for a great number of years, and their variations having been carefully watched, the laws governing their light changes have been well determined.
We will first consider the variable stars with long periods of variation, as these generally show the largest fluctuations of light. Among these, the first star in which variation of light seems to have been noticed is the extraordinary object, Omicron Ceti, popularly known as Mira, or the “wonderful” star. It appears to have been first noticed by David Fabricius in the year 1596. He observed that the star now called Omicron, in the constellation Cetus, was of the third magnitude on April 13 of that year, and that in the following year it had disappeared. Bayer saw it again in 1603, when forming his maps of the constellations, and assigned to it the Greek letter Omicron, but does not seem to have noticed the fact that it was the same star which had been observed by Fabricius seven years previously. No further attention seems to have been paid to it until 1638 and 1639, when it was observed at Francker by Professor Phocylides Holwarda to be of the third magnitude in December, 1638, invisible in the following summer, and again visible in October, 1639. From 1648 to 1662 it was carefully observed by Hevelius, and in subsequent years by several observers. Its variations are now regularly followed from year to year, and it forms one of the most interesting objects of its kind in the heavens. Its light varies from about the second magnitude to the ninth, but its brightness at maximum is variable to a considerable extent.
Perhaps the long period variable star next in order of interest—at least to observers in the Northern Hemisphere—is that known as Chi Cygni. It was discovered by Kirch in 1686. The star varies at maximum from 4 to 6½ magnitude, and at the minimum it sinks to below the thirteenth magnitude. At some maxima, therefore, it is easily visible to the naked eye, and at others it is just below the limit of ordinary vision. At the maximum of 1847, it was visible to the naked eye for a period of 97 days. The average period is about 406 days; but according to Schönfeld—a well-known authority on the variables—observations indicate a small lengthening of the period. Chi Cygni is said to be “strikingly variable in color.” Espin’s observations in different years show it “sometimes quite red, at others only pale orange-red.” In the spectroscope, its light shows a splendid spectrum of the third type (or banded spectrum, very characteristic of these long period variables), in which bright lines were observed by Espin in May, 1889.
R Leonis is another remarkable variable star, which is sometimes visible to the naked eye at maximum. It lies closely south of the star known as 19 Leonis. It was discovered by Koch in 1782. At the maximum, its brightness varies from 5.2 to 7 magnitude, and at minimum it fades to about the tenth magnitude. The mean period is about 313 days. The star is red in all phases of its light, and forms a fine telescopic object. Close to it are two small stars, which form, with the variable, an isosceles triangle.
There is a very remarkable variable star in the Southern Hemisphere known as Eta Argûs. It lies in the midst of the great nebula in Argo, and the history of its fluctuations in light is very interesting. Observed by Halley in 1677 as a star of the fourth magnitude, it was seen of the second magnitude by Lacaille in 1751. After this, it must have again faded, for Burchell found it of only the fourth magnitude from 1811 to 1815. From 1822 to 1826 it was again of the second magnitude, as observed by Fallows and Brisbane; but on February 1, 1827, it was estimated of the first magnitude by Burchell. It then faded again, for on February 29, 1828, Burchell found it of the second magnitude. From 1829 to 1833 Johnson and Taylor rated it of the second magnitude; and it was still of this magnitude, or a little brighter, when Sir John Herschel commenced his observations at the Cape of Good Hope in 1834. It does not seem to have varied much in brightness from that time until December, 1837, when Herschel was astonished to find its light “nearly tripled.” He says: “It very decidedly surpassed Procyon, which was about the same altitude, and was far superior to Aldebaran. It exceeded Alpha Orionis, and the only star (Sirius and Canopus excepted) which could at all be compared with it was Rigel.”