THE NEW STAR IN AQUILA.

Nelson Evening Mail, Volume LII, Issue 160, 4 July 1918, Page 6

THE NEW STAR IN AQUILA.

(To the Editor.) Sir,—Nova Aqnila, the so-called is still diminishing "very ~ rapidly in* apparent size, and is still J changing its colonr to a deeper red, ; f h>.wing - extensive and quick cooling, ;and possiblv recessional movement 1 along , the line, of - observation. , It is i - easily seen with the unassisted - " when once it has; .been . located; ''but.it-threatens soon to become- only, a c>telescopic object, and rt may eventually " - ; <like v several .other Novae) al.""together. 'lt is not at all comparable n<itv (as it was lit first) with Arcturu® .siztf and brilliancy; and it is not - so as either the -whit* «tac Altair or the ibd -y -Ajutares, in Scorpio. Also it is not now -- exactly 1 in. a straight line from Altajr thereof. - Wb*en, I viewed it on ThursV~L<afcy~and Saturday mornings last, I was "with the-rapidity of its change*, /'and "estimated it to b? not larger than ."a 1 - second magnitude star. On ■viewitig it~through the Atkinson telescope (coin <Sdently with the lunar eclipse) between %■ ,9 «nd 10 o'clock on Mondav night last faHfel instf; l . noticed - and remark d f was apparently leas than the 7? -magnitude, and was not orange S.v?.flaftourexl,/bot decidedly red/ '-On Tues - iiay?thidriightp and ragaih' last (Wednes'nighty I - watched -it until the £//tHrfuds obscured it at 10 p.m.., and on :^rpointing it" out to others they agreed /«tadlly\tliat'it was- not half eo brilliant ,jipicuoU* than "the .faint stars in its ■aaore immediate; neighbourhood. It has T~ ' to about the fourth ' 7 ari3 will , probably not r*>%*^«aaj*". J the unaided eye v*rj '£fS' *Siif 3fo*m---aridvth'e changes it has aprl^£ira|)idly.r throngh., and is still .via Jfr / agronomic .point" of view." ft-jWst' take\cum grano sails' the wild 1 *■£? tcr^tiuT-extreme 'distances from which 5-as ..to" 1 "some, great 5 ijljrila. iatastiophe'?/"an<J as to the* tune -hasYtakbfr/jhe lijrhfT signal to reach *'our 'i§ jfopen -for wild _ fancy ///_ Ao_ CMji>c6et - but for of J the so far oiJVr'kd C ixiodicum of scientific evidence blaze, star\ha«' actually - CTlte- facts "observed so far,, however!/ (as •i>V jlvlmay vshojv- more in detail later on). >o confirm my ftTieory. in this "case the Nova -it* not pro--jspeakine; a, at all ((in -the v 6f_ belonging, to th" distant stelhcatverisl. u«t that rt is what tha advanced of to d,ly y-fsiii(hidi?ijrckyer, Scbiaparelli, • UPgnC - "_and r *'Tue»ej",- -who *ha,ve made* a, «oecial/study .of ""meteors) would call -a *,-J r radiant.' 1 ' halving i-3. appearance 9* a" star owing ; S C .number of meteors cros'sV'C" Jnjr" afe," ''the radiant point,'and • partly the .angle mt which it is -viewed from .♦IhP earth/TTI» new star's? present staappearance moong the stars is 'an - effect of it* oltra,. Neptunian /^^uitsne*; -and' partly due to .the same geometrical and optical which , make the planets within J -i («K~sotar' svstem fljxmetim's appear staA lt»aßArv' rojfwd®' motion: owing to their,Tela* tfie' earth's- own position and c »Pvement -_in her orbit. X>uhitlejw P*r (io-called) is notlting" but a i'/- : c*a»Aeoric aw arm captured by- bur solar i -i- , i «v«9tem from-the yatt xegioii of twenty > Wlli<m -«Bil»«~ between jis Alplia "/Vntanri.^pommonlv considered to be e star. , -Coming "from V.\ "outside, solar, or inter-r~%-y.&zu\ this' huge t meteoritic , (cylindrical and elongated in r . «hape) has intruded too neai 'solar system, and the force of rj jyravitation. under the present arranjer Af',th* planets, causing a special h = cosmic strain, 1 has so com--J .'jpteUKy taken hold of'the intruder that r it htw tieen drawn out of, its course .' partially ' arrested, * and connpillid tc -r'* - .conform to' orot- own "laws "of ■gravity. . . - ■ It> is * and firmly held bj ~3--y wrnie t astronomers, that some comet; "V Jiave been captured in just the rami Viv And", by" piratical acts of this kind Juniter has probably arretted anc , d iiriost of its Satellites, if no 1 - t , hw whole familv. Since the deroliti< • '.Ccfoud. or .'meteoritic swarm was firs iipoii bv-our far-reaching gra*» - '„\tafcionaJ tentacle*, it has coiled up ar< dSrwn horns like a sensitiv if; snail, and its scatter, d component ~ huw~~coyei so closely together th-i ~ „ some hffvia, ctuallv collided, and hav b*en ,-vapqurised of volatilised by tl. = "yfore* of. impact a<montr themselvrs, thi< 'r* raiosin^„t/he;sudden iiare up and the ap *./f f p«»arance >f 41 new star having at fir# ■ >rthe brilliance <?f a first magnitude stai ■ now xradiply coolincr and contracl before",our: eyes. .Nova'Aquila i u* y'r.tyWartly. Fame ccapawtively nea

inter-stellar, 'object as I first saw as a bright elongated haze moving and transforming near the boundaiy of inv constellation of Scorpio in April lastSince then it has been badlj bounded about under the influence of the general cosmic strain; and its constituent parts have been drastically re-arrang-ed. We have momentarily seen the •wriggling cylindrical or •worm-shaped, (or rather, sausage-shape d)i monster end on; "and this also may partly explain it** apparent changes in shape, size and ! colour. Like many other Novae, thit new star may eventually disappear; or like some others, it mav remain visible in best telescopes for a considerable time, as a faint haze, giving, un- • der a spectioscope, a rainbow tinted spectrum. I have written much on this interesting subject, but it is difficult s to give a- popular exposition of technical and recondite matters of this , kind without trespassing too much upI' on j'our valuable space. I am etc.. • JOSEPH TAYLOR, M.E June 27t/h, 1918.

(This letter has been awaiting publication for some time.)