William Tyler Olcott - Star Lore: Myths, Legends, and Facts

COMA BERENICES

APPENDIX

THE BRIGHTEST STARS VISIBLE IN LATITUDE 40N.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
Canis Majoris	1.63
Urs Majoris	1.68
Bellatrix	1.70
Scorpii	1.71
Orionis	1.75
Tauri	1.78
Persei	1.90
Orionis	1.91
Urs Majoris	1.91
Geminorum	1.93
1 With the exception of the estimate of the suns 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
Zllner: 26.6
The sun gives us: 10,000,000,000 times the light of Sirius.

LIGHT-GIVING POWER OF THE STARS, SUNLIGHT BEING EQUAL TO UNITY

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

NEAREST LUCID STARS IN THE NORTHERN HEMISPHERE

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 7.5 light years.

The distance of the first magnitude star 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. Youngs comparison: If the distance from the earth to the sun were 215 ft. the distance from the earth to 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

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.

PERIODIC COMETS

PERIODIC COMETS

PROPER MOTION OF THE STARS

(The angular motion across the line of sight.)

SECCHIS SPECTROSCOPIC STAR TYPES

SECCHIS SPECTROSCOPIC STAR TYPES

SCINTILLATION

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