Star Lore Of All Ages/Appendix

by William Tyler Olcott

Appendix

APPENDIX

 

THE BRIGHTEST STARS VISIBLE IN LATITUDE 40°N.^[1]

STAR	MAGNITUDE
The Sun	—25.4
Sirius	—1.58
Vega	0.14
Capella	0.21
Arcturus	0.24
Rigel	0.34
Procyon	0.48
Altair	0.89
Aldebaran	1.06
Pollux	1.21
Spica	1.21
Antares	1.22
Fomalhaut	1.29
Deneb	1.33
Regulus	1.34
Castor	1.58
ε Canis Majoris	1.63
ε Ursæ Majoris	1.68
Bellatrix	1.70
λ Scorpii	1.71
ε Orionis	1.75
β Tauri	1.78
α Persei	1.90
ζ Orionis	1.91
η Ursæ Majoris	1.91
γ Geminorum	1.93

LIGHT-GIVING POWER OF THE STARS, SUNLIGHT BEING EQUAL TO UNITY^[2]

SIRIAN STARS			SOLAR STARS
Procyon	25		Aldebaran	70
Altair	25		Pollux	170
Sirius	40		Polaris	190
Regulus	110		Capella	220
Vega	2050		Arcturus	6200

The total light of the stars is estimated as equal to 1/80 of that of the full moon.

NEAREST LUCID STARS IN THE NORTHERN HEMISPHERE

		Distance in Light Years according to
Star Name	Magnitude	Todd	Russell	Gore	Yale Univ.	Young	Newcomb
Sirius	-1.6	8.5	8.6	9		8.6	8.0
τ Ceti	3.6		9.7			10.2	10.0
Procyon	0.5	12.0	10	10	9.8	10.9	10.0
61 Cygni	5.6	7.2			11.1	8.0	7.3
Altair	0.8	16.0		14	14.1	13.6	14.0
Vega	0.1	27.0		40		21.7	29.0
Aldebaran	1.0	32.0		32	28	29.6	29.0
Capella	0.2	32.0		40	34		36.0
Polaris	2.1	47.0		46		44	54.0
Arcturus	0.2	160.0		160			108.0
β Cassiopeiæ	2.4			032			21.0

Of the fainter stars in the northern hemisphere the 7.4 magnitude star Lalande 21185 is probably the nearest star to the earth. The average distance as estimated by different authorities is 7.3 light years.

The distance of the first magnitude star α Centauri in the southern hemisphere, probably the nearest star to the earth, is given by all authorities as 4.3 light years. This distance is better realised if we adopt Prof. Young's comparison: If the distance from the earth to the sun were 215 ft. the distance from the earth to α Centauri would be 8000 miles.

On the scale measured at Yale University the mean distance of stars of the first magnitude is 36.5 light years, second magnitude stars 58 light years, and those of the third magnitude 92 light years.

NUMBER OF THE STARS^[3]

SeventhFirst Magnitude	20
SeventhSecond {{{1}}}„	65
SeventhThird {{{1}}}„	200
SeventhFourth {{{1}}}„	500
SeventhFifth {{{1}}}„	1400
SeventhSixth {{{1}}}„	5000
Seventh {{{1}}}„	20000
SeventhEighth {{{1}}}„	68000
SeventhNinth {{{1}}}„	240000
SeventhTenth {{{1}}}„	720000	1,055,185

The lucid, or naked-eye, stars comprise the first six magnitudes.

A 5″ telescope reveals stars down to the 12th magnitude, and Prof. Ritchey of the Mt. Wilson Observatory using the new 60″ reflector has photographed by four-hour exposures stars probably as faint as the 20th or 21st magnitude. It has been estimated that the total number of stars within our ken photographically speaking is possibly 125 million.

Oldest Stars (Red)	Next in Order (Yellow)	Youngest Stars (White)
Antares	Our Sun	Sirius
Aldebaran	Capella	Deneb
Betelgeuse	Pollux	Procyon
	Arcturus	Spica
		Altair
		Regulus

Periodic Comets

Name	Last Perihelion	Period in Years	Next Return
Encke	Sept. 15, 1901	03.3
Brorsen	Feb, 25, 1890	05.45	1911
Tempel Swift	June 5, 1897	05.54	1913
De Vico Swift	Apr. 27, 1901	06.4	1914
Tempel II	Oct. 04, 1898	06.5	1911
Finlay	Feb. 17, 1900	06.5	1913
Wolf	July 05, 1898	06.8	1912
Holmes	Apr. 29, 1899	06.8	1913
Faye	Jan. 23, 1881	07.5	1911
Tuttle	May 05, 1899	13.6	1913
Pons Brooks	Jan. 26, 1884	71.5
Olbers	Oct. 09, 1887	72.6
Halley	May 17, 1910	76

Proper Motion of the Stars
(The angular motion across the line of sight.)

Star Name	Speed in Miles per Second
	Pritchard	Young
β Cassiopeiæ	10
α Cassiopeiæ„	02
61 Cygni	35	37
Polaris	02.5	01.8
α Arietis	08
α Persei	01
	Elkin
Aldebaran	04	05.1
Capella	11
Sirius	09	10.1
Procyon	13	12.2
Pollux	27
Regulus	08
Vega	31	07.1
Altair	09	08.0
	Miss Clerke	Newcomb
Arcturus	375	200 to 300

Secchi's Spectroscopic Star Types

	Characteristics	Star Names
Type I. Sirian Stars (blue or white)	Broad, intense, dark hydrogen lines	Sirius Vega Altair and perhaps more than half of all the stars
Type II. Solar Stars (yellowish like sun)	Fine, dark, metallic lines	Capella Arcturus
Type III. Orange and reddish stars	Many dark bands	α Herculis Mira Antares A majority of the variable stars
Type IV. Blood red in tint	Dark bands or flutings, the reverse of Type III. as to shading	About 50 stars of this type
Type V.	Bright lines	Number about 70 Situated near the middle of the Galaxy

Scintillation

Secchi's type	Mean Scintillation
III	87
III	79
III	59

Scintillation is most pronounced in January and February, and magnetic storms and violent scintillations are absolutely coincident in point of time.

Stars Approaching the Earth

Star Name	Speed in Miles per Second
	Potsdam	Todd[4]	Greenwich	Vogel
α Arictis		11.7		09.2
γ Leonis		25.1
Spica	14	10.6	17	09.2
Altair		23.9	27	23.7
Polaris	16.3		16
Algol	02.3		02
Arcturus			45	04.6
Vega			34	09.7
Deneb			36	05.1
Pollux[5]			33
Sirius				09.7
Procyon	07			05.5
Castor				18.4

Stars Receding the Earth

Star Name	Speed in Miles per Second
	Potsdam	Todd[4]	Vogel	Greenwich
Aldebaran	30	31.1	30.1	31
Rigel	39	13.6	10.1	18
Betelgeuse		17.6		28
α Coronæ		20.3
Capella	17		15.2	23
ε Orionis	34		35

Famous Temporary Stars

Date	Appearing in the Constellation
134 b.c.	Scorpio	The star of Hipparchus
123 a.d.	Ophiuchus
386	Sagittarius
389	Aquila near Altair
393	Scorpio
1012	Aries
1203	Scorpio
1230	Ophiuchus
1572	Cassiopeia	Tycho's Star
1604	Ophiuchus	Keplers's Star
1670	Vulpecula
1848	Ophiuchus
1860	Scorpio
1866	Corona Borealis
1876	Cygnus
1885	Andromeda
1891–92	Auriga

Famous Variable Stars

Star Name	Period in Days	Range in Magnitude	Type
ο Ceti	331	1.7 to 9.5	Mira
R. Leonis	313	5.2 to 10.0
β Persei	002 7/8	2.3 to 3.5	Algol
ζ Geminorum	010 1/7	3.7 to 4.5
δ Libræ	002 1/6	5.0 to 6.2
χ Sagittarii	007	4.0 to 6
β Lyræ	12.9	3.4 to 4.9
α Herculis	90±	3.1 to 3.9	Irregular

1. With the exception of the estimate of the sun's magnitude the list is taken from the Harvard Observatory Catalogue.
   Other results for the stellar magnitude of the sun are as follows:
   Wollaston: —26.6
   Bond: —25.8
   Zöllner: —26.6
   The sun gives us: 10,000,000,000 times the light of Sirius.
2. From calculations made by Mauder.
3. From Todd's Astronomy.
4. From Todd's Astronomy.
5. According to Allen Pollux is receding from the earth at a rate of 1 mile per second.