Abstract
OUR knowledge of long-period stellar variability is still so fragmentary that much of the available information is widely scattered throughout various periodicals, and many of the proposed hypotheses are without doubt destined to eventual rejection. At this stage such a monograph as this is doubly welcome, since the author presents and coordinates a wealth of observed facts regarding the spectra of these stars while carefully avoiding a too close identification of these facts with current theory. Valuable as photometric and spectrophotometric studies of these stars are, the most fruitful line of attack on the many problems they present is that of detailed spectrum analysis. Accordingly Dr. Merrill gives a general account of the lines and bands in characteristic spectra at maximum light, and goes on to trace their variation with phase. Afterwards he devotes a chapter to individual variables which have been made the subject of specially detailed investigation. Finally, he gives an admirable summary of the various hypotheses which have been advanced to account for the behaviour of these objects, and suggests the most fruitful lines of future research. Not the least valuable feature of the book is the series of seven plates in which the characteristics of the spectra are illustrated by excellently reproduced high-dispersion spectrograms.
Spectra of Long-Period Variable Stars
(Astrophysical Monographs sponsored by the Astrophysical Journal.) By Paul W. Merrill. Pp. ix + 107 + 7 plates. (Chicago: University of Chicago Press ; Cambridge: At the University Press, 1940.) 15s. net.
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Spectra of Long-Period Variable Stars. Nature 149, 155 (1942). https://doi.org/10.1038/149155b0
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/149155b0