The star of Tycho had burst forth on the
northern border of the Milky Way; this one was on its southern border,
some forty-five degrees farther east.
Astronomers were well-prepared this time for the scientific study of
the new star, both astronomical photography and spectroscopy having
been perfected, and the results of their investigations were
calculated to increase the wonder with which the phenomenon was
regarded. The star remained at its brightest only a few days; then,
like a veritable conflagration, it began to languish; and, like the
reflection of a dying fire, as it sank it began to glow with the red
color of embers. But its changes were spasmodic; once about every
three days it flared up only to die away again. During these
fluctuations its light varied alternately in the ratio of one to six.
Finally it took a permanent downward course, and after a few months
the naked eye could no longer perceive it; but it remained visible
with telescopes, gradually fading until it had sunk to the ninth
magnitude. Then another astonishing change happened: in August
photographs taken at the Yerkes Observatory and at Heidelberg showed
that the ``nova'' was surrounded by a spiral nebula! The nebula had
not been there before, and no one could doubt that it represented a
phase of the same catastrophe that had produced the outburst of the
new star.
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