A STAR'S ATMOSPHERE.
Using eclipsing stars, one 15,000,000 times as large as the sun, two Pasadena astronomers have determined the distribution of chemical elements in a star's atmosphere. In observations upon the binary, Zeta Aurigae, W. H. Christie and Dr. O. C. Wilson, of the Mount' Wilson Observatory, announced they were able for the first time to obtain the ratio of the I numbers of atoms at various heights in the 'atmosphere. This double star syetem is composed of a large red star with an atmosphere , 30,000.000 miles deep and a smaller white one, , itself 800 times as large as the sun. "The , larger star eclipses the smaller one every 973 • daye," Mr. Christie said. "As the small, bright star came from behind the red star in the last ) eclipse its light shone through the latter's j atmosphere for six days. We obtained fifty > I photographs of the combined spectra of the jred star's atmosphere and the white star*."
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Auckland Star, Volume LXVI, Issue 39, 15 February 1935, Page 6
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159A STAR'S ATMOSPHERE. Auckland Star, Volume LXVI, Issue 39, 15 February 1935, Page 6
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