Exploded Sun

A brilliant nova (new star) suddenly appeared in the southern sky (over Africa and South America) on the weekend that Lieut. General Dwight Eisenhower opened the African front. It is the brightest nova that has appeared in the sky since 1918, the year of the Armistice.

The nova was discovered by Professor B. H. Dawson of the La Plata Observatory in Argentina. A week after its discovery it was already the eighth brightest star in the sky, its brightness increasing day by day. In the U.S. the nova is visible at 5:30 to 6 a.m., war time, almost on the meridian and some 15DEG above the southern horizon when viewed from the latitude of Manhattan, Denver or Tokyo. It is higher in the southern States, invisible in Canada except for southern Ontario.

Actually its brilliant light is evidence of the explosion of a distant sun which may have occurred many years ago. Although light travels six trillion miles in a year, many stars are so distant that centuries elapse before their light reaches the earth. Nothing is known of the new star's distance from the earth. Nothing can be predicted about its future. It may become much brighter and linger for months or years, or it may soon fade and completely disappear.

Funniest sequel to the discovery was an attempt by the Japanese to annex the nova. CBS's short-wave listening station heard Tokyo announce that a Japanese amateur astronomer, Shiaki Nakihava, had first sighted the new star. The Japanese called his feat "one of the greatest events in science." Then they located the nova in the wrong constellation (Canis Major instead of Puppis).

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