The coefficient of atmospheric extinction may change during the night and in fact it often does. This has an adverse effect on the determination of atmospheric extinction by simple Bouguer plot of magnitude against air mass. This effect was studied by Rufener (1964), who introduced for the purpose of accurate photoelectric photometry in the Geneva photometric system the method of two ‘extinction stars’. His method consists of the measurement of two stars of the same colour — one starting at high air mass 2 - 3, the M-star (for French montante = rising) and the second starting simultaneously in the meridian at low air mass, the D—star (for descending).