The arrival of Dr. Richard Prager, distinguished European astronomer, focuses attention on the work being done in the Observatory on the little explored field of variable stars. In a report earlier this year before the Philadelphia Philosophical Society, Observatory officials announced the advances made over a six month period and indicated the immense possibilities for further work.
Chief boon to the workers in the field in the Pickering collection of plates compiled by the Observatory some 40 years ago. These plates, unused because of lack of equipment, now have become the most valuable method of approach to the previously insoluble problem.
They reveal the three main characteristics of variable stars--their variable change in color, their period, and their physical make-up.
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