Title: The Atmospheric Eclipses of Four Supergiant Binary Systems
Abstract: In a previous paper1 the spectroscopic phenomena of the eclipse of 31 Cygni in 1951 were discussed. Atmospheric eclipse effects during the passage of the early-type star behind the chromosphere of the K-type giant were striking, and lasted for several weeks, during both ingress and egress. The Michigan Observatory now has good series of spectrograms during the atmospheric eclipses of the four supergiant systems : C Aurigae, 31 Cygni, 32 Cygni, and VV Cephei. All the plates, with the exception of the egress series of 31 Cygni, were taken with practically identical dispersion and are easily comparable. The present paper attempts a qualitative comparison of the eclipse phenomena and of the structure of the atmospheres of the late-type components of these four systems. Intercomparison was made by means of an adopted standard