Abstract
IN a recent number of the Bulletin de l'Académie royale de Belgique, M. Niesten, of the Brussels Observatory, has published some interesting details relating to the colours of double stars, to which subject he has given special attention for a considerable time past. When comparing the periodicity of solar spots with the longitudes of planets in the ecliptic, Messrs. De la Rue, Balfour Stewart, and Loewy had found that a distinct connection exists between solar activity and the relative positions of the different members of our planetary system. A long time ago the attention of astronomers had already been drawn to the fact that Wolf's sun-spot period of eleven years coincides with the period of Jupiter's revolution round the sun. Later on Prof. Balfour Stewart pointed out that the coincidence of the perihelia of Jupiter and Saturn, which occurs about every fifty-nine years, corresponds to another one of Wolf's spot-periods.
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The Colours of Double Stars . Nature 20, 330–331 (1879). https://doi.org/10.1038/020330a0
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/020330a0