The Michigan Daily-Wednesday, October 29, 1980-Page 9 , Stars unusual characteristics bewilder excited astronor Doily Photo by DAVID HARRIS UNIVERSITY ASTRONOMER Bill Blair attempts to explain the unusual behavior of SS 433, a star which has intrigued astronomers for years. Collegeduglist publisher arrested By MARK SCHUMACK Astronomers are racking their brains over the behavior of an unusual star located 65 quadrillion miles from Ear- th. The star-labelled SS 433 because it is the 433rd entry in a list of stars com- piled by two Cleveland astronomers-is a "hot topic" of celestial concern, ac- cording to Bill Blair, an astronomer at the University. An important aspect of the star is that its behavior seems to confirm one area of the general theory of relativity and other astronomy-related questions, said Blair, who has been instrumental in studies leading to this discovery. BLAIR HAS been collecting data on SS 433 "from over a hundred nights over the last two years." Observations of the star are taken at the University's observatory near Tucson, Arizona. SS 433 lies amidst the remnants of a supernova explosion, said Blair, which means that SS 433 could be a leftover piece of a star which blew up. SS 433 also could provide insight to the behavior of quasars-light-emitting objects existing at the edges of the known universe. Some quasars have exhibited behavior similar to that of the star. The characteristic of SS 433 which first caught the interest of astronomers was its shifting wavelengths. Most stars emit a fairly steady spectrum of wavelengths, but SS 433's wavelengths appear to fluctuate back and forth, Blair said. ONE THEORY suggests that there could be a neutron star or a black hole involved, Blair said. The fluctuating wavelengths could be the result of two jets of material being shot out at enor- mous speed from opposite ends of a central object. As the black hole or neutron star revolves, the jets spin around and give spectators on Earth the impression of changing wavelengths. That im- pression, Blair explained, has the same effect a listener experiences when a train passes: A high pitch is heard upon the train's approach and the sound drops after the train passes. LIKEWISE, WHEN the jets of SS 433 are spinning towards Earth, they ap- pear to have a shorter wavelength, and when they are moving away they ap- pear to have a longer wavelength. SS 433 is located in the constellation Aquila, near the bright star Altair, an area which can only be seen through a telescope. Some scientists think that SS 433 v Voyager I discovers two new satellites orbiting Saturn's ri ners could be a system involving two of possibly three stars, Blair said. Blair suggested that SS 433 consistsjof a neutron star-an ultra-dense object 10 kilometers in diameter having the mass of the sun-in orbit around a red giant star. The star pulls gases out of its cot- panion due to its enormous gravity. Strong magnetic fields on the neutron star then redirect the gases into two jets shooting outwards into space witb opposite trajectories. rgs CHICAGO (AP)-The advertising manager of a college newspaper that carried a listing of street prices of various drugs was arrested yesterday and charged with felony possession of narcotics, police said. Police said Roland Priebe, 24, a senior journalism student, was arrested after more than $25,000 in marijuana, cocaine, LSD, Quaaludes and amphetamines were found in his apartment. Priebe is manager of campus adver- tising of the Chicago Illini, student publication of the University of Illinois- Chicago. OFFICER STEVE KAPLAN said that Priebe published a feature in the newspaper, which is owned by former students, called "Monthly Drug In- dex." It listed street prices of "grass," "coke," "acid," and "speed," and was carried in the newspaper's Sept. 22 editions and again on Oct. 20. After the arrest, Kaplan said Priebe was "pretty philosophical about the whole thing." He quoted the student as saying, "You got me. I guess I'm through now." Kaplan said the drugs were found in a desk drawer and a hallway closet of Priebe's apartment after he was stop- ped for driving with a suspended driver's license. THE OFFICER SAID an informant sent him a copy of the "Monthly Drug Index" and information about Priebe. A check of Priebe's record showed that he toad no policerecord but that he had a suspended driver's license. Police had staked out the apartment and stopped Priebe as he drove away. Kaplan said the "drugs were in plain view" when he admitted police to his apartment in an attempt to prove that his car registration was valid. KAPLAN SAID WHEN he saw the price listings in the newspaper, "I couldn't believe it." A caption to the "index" read: "Reefer is beginning to swamp the market again. No surprise. The harvest season is upon us now, and no doubt the upc9ming election has a little to do with the situation-po't-deprived smokers tend not to be overjoyed with the in- cumbent administration, and if the authorities aren't pursuing dealers with as much zeal as usual for a few weeks, it's understandable." Kaplan said he is speculating that the "index" was published to "let people know that he (Priebe) had connected" and that drugs were "on the market." WASHINGTON (AP)-America's Voyager 1 spacecraft, rapidly closing in for an encounter with Saturn, has discovered two new moons and confir- med three others circling the ringed planet, scientists announced yesterday. The robot craft, 12.8 million miles from Saturn and closing at 45,000 mph, pinpointed the new moons-the planet's 13th and 14th-in pictures taken last weekend, Dr. Bradford Smith said at a news briefing by the National Aeronautics and Space Administration. The newly discovered satellites, as yet unnamed, are orbiting close to each other outside the most visible rings of Sasturn and take about 15 hours to cir- cle the planet, Smith said. ONE SATELLITE is about 185 miles in diameter and is moving in an orbit about 50,800 miles above the giant planet's clouds. The other, ap- proximately 155 miles in diameter, is in an orbit 49,300 miles above the clouds. The one-ton Voyager 1, launched 38 months ago on a journey that first took it to Jupiter last year, is in good con- dition considering the wear and tear of traveling 1.3 billion miles through space. NASA officials said. .. The craft is on course for its planned closest approach to Saturn on Nov. 12, when it will whisk within 77,174 miles of the cloud tops, officials said. VOYAGER 1 WILL approach from an angle above the planet, swing underit and pop up outside the edge of the most prominent rings before being thrown on a path that will carry it outside 'the solar system in 1990. Interviews For LSA Student Gov't Elections Director November 3 Information & Applications Available-4003 Michigan Union Also interviewing for MSA positions Treat yourself ...toan F Y% I4 award -winning* 6-pack Quench your thirst for news from campus to international, happenings from sports to cultural, plus our regular features, editorials, and Sunday magazine. -- . Subscribe to the Michigan Daily-Delivered / f./ 'All -' ~pit before 8 a.m. to your dorm or door Tuesday- Sunday -- I LEAVE BLANK Yes, I would like to subscribe to THE LEAVE BLANK I MICHIGAN DAILY. 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