In regard to the color of stars
Jersey June Monarch / June 2013
“We especially need imagination in science. It is not all mathematics, nor all logic, but it is somewhat beauty and poetry.”
~ astronomer Maria Mitchell (1818-1889; in 1847, using a telescope, she discovered a comet which became known as "Miss Mitchell's Comet")
From her diary:
“Feb.
19, 1853. I am just learning to notice the different colors of the
stars, and already begin to have a new enjoyment. Betelgeuse is
strikingly red, while Rigel is yellow. There is something of the same
pleasure in noticing the hues that there is in looking at a collection
of precious stones, or at a flower-garden in autumn. Blue stars I do not
yet see, and but little lilac except through the telescope.”
“Feb. 12, 1855…. I swept around for comets about an hour, and then I
amused myself with noticing the varieties of color. I wonder that I have
so long been insensible to this charm in the skies, the tints of the
different stars are so delicate in their variety. … What a pity that
some of our manufacturers shouldn't be able to steal the secret of
dyestuffs from the stars, and astonish the feminine taste by new
brilliancy in fashion.”
(Source: MARIA MITCHELL: LIFE, LETTERS, AND JOURNALS, Compiled By PHEBE MITCHELL KENDALL)
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