ABSTRACT
Variable stars do not appear to be near the earth. Mira has a proper motion of a quarter of a second of arc annually, but the only parallax determined by Dr Chase makes Algol ten times as distant as Sirius, or nearly ninety light-years away. The Nova of 1572 increased for about a month from discovery, and faded for five months before being invisible to the naked eye. That of 1604 reached its maximum in a few days, remained very bright for a month or more, and was visible to the naked eye for more than a year, disappearing early in 1606. Both these appeared before the invention of the telescope. Red stars show a large proportion of variables, and nearly all long-period variables are red, so that there seems some connection between the two characteristics.
