Rensselaer Republican, Volume 27, Number 20, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 16 January 1896 — Twin Suns. [ARTICLE]

Twin Suns.

The star Alpha Centauri - --the nearert star to the earth as far as we yet know—consists, as the telescope shows, of two sunt, one of which is-five or six times brighter than the other. But re- • cent observations by Mr. Roberts at the Cape of Good Hope Observatory haVe led him to the conclusion that the two compbnents/>f Alpha Centauri, much as they differ in'brightness, are really hearty equal in weight. Together they are twice as heavy as our sun. It seenis to follow from these facts that one of those twin suns is losing its light, and in the course of ages may become only ft gigantic opaque planet, while its companion will still continue to blaze*with solor splendor.