Our Astronomical Column

Abstract

KOnDYLEWSKI's VARIABLE STAR.—This very remarkable variable, the position of which for 1927.0 is R.A. 12^h 33^m 16⁸.6, S. Decl. 17°7′ 3″, is in the same field as S Corvi, and was first seen by the discoverer, at Cracow Observatory, on Dec. 14, 1925. He was familiar with the field, as he was in the habit of observing S Corvi and noticed the presence of a strange star, the magnitude of which on the B.D. Scale was 9 5 or brighter. There were then two months of cloudy weather, after which he failed to find the stranger. Search on the Harvard plates was at first abortive, but a recent Harvard post-card circular announces that images have been found on seven plates taken between 1895 and 1908. They suggest a period of about 400 days, which is confirmed by the star's recent reappearance. The range of photographic magnitude is from 11-5 to less than 17, and therefore about the same as thAt of Mira Ceti.