Has Made A Big Discovery
Former Ann Arbor Man In Astronomy
NORTH STAR IS 3 STARS
Prof. W. W. Campbell Has Established this Without a Doubt
One of the most curious discoveries of astronomical science has just been made by Prof. W. W. Campbell, son of William Campbell, of Pittsfield. Prof. Campbell graduated from the U. of M. in 1886 and was for a time instructor in astronomy at the university here. He afterwards was made director of the Lick Observatory of California and it was with that telescope that he has made a discovery that makes his fame everlasting.
His discovery is that the North Star is not one star, but three.
This star, which is 5,000,000,000 miles away from the earth, has been one of the most familiar objects in the firmament since the beginning of creation, and yet its true nature was not even suspected until the other day. The North Star is one of the most brilliantly beautiful in color and is the star which the children are first taught to distinguish. It points constantly to the North Pole of the earth and has been of more aid to navigators and travelers in unknown regions than any other celestial body which illuminates the night.
It was by means of the spectroscope attached to teh great thirty-six inch refracting telescope at the Lick Observatory that the existence of two companions of the North Star was discovered the other day. Only one star is visible to the eye, even with the greatest telescopes, but the spectroscope reveals the existence of two others with mathematical accuracy. The spectroscope is an instrument which separates light into its component colors. When the light from the North Star was examined in the spectroscope the other day, changes in the lines of color were observed which could only be accounted for by the fact that there were other bodies present. From this point it was only a matter of mathematics to calculate their number, position and movements.
The North Star, which is called by astronomers Polaris, is really a great sun. It is accompanied by two invisible stars just discovered by the spectroscope. One of these revolves about the other and the two revolve about Polaris, just as the earth and moon do around the sun. It is calculated that it requires four years for the two invisible bodies to revolve around Polaris. The year there is four times longer than ours. The bright Polaris revolves on its axis once in four years.
Polaris is approaching the solar system at a varying rate which has reached as high as 16 miles a second. The variation is due to the attraction of the two bodies upon the third. This was another fact which proved to the astronomers the right nature of the star.