Gas, Dust, Stars and Variable Stars

Abstract

If an extraterrestrial visitor were to take a walk through the streets of a busy town on a Saturday morning he/she/it would see a variety of people. Some would be very small, being seated in wheeled chairs and pushed along by larger specimens, or bodily carried by these larger specimens. There would be people of a whole range of sizes and with a wide range of physical characteristics. The smallest people tend to have unlined faces and strongly coloured hair. The full-sized people tend to be less active (walking steadily rather than running and jumping) and many have greying hair and lines on their faces. Some people have very wrinkled faces and most of these have white or nearly white hair. They often move very slowly, perhaps walking with a stoop and with the aid of a stick.