Vermont watchman and State journal. [volume] (Montpelier, Vt.) 1836-1883, 1847-02-04

Distance of the moon
from the earth, 100000
Distance of the earth
from the sun, 96,OOO OOO
Distance of the remot-
est planet (the New
Panet) from the sun 100000, 600
Greatest distance of
the comet of 1850, 10000, 900, 900, 900
Distance of the near
est fixed star, Centau-
ri, $1,000, OOO, 900 900
Distance of 81 Cygni, SIS, 900, 600, 600 900
When the observer turns his attention to
the heavens, his first desire is to know the
number of the stars which are visible to his
naked eye, and he is surprised to find it
much less than he anticipated. Astrono-
mers have determined that in both hemis-
pheres they do not much exceed three thou
sand, namely, 30 of the first magnitude, 20
of the second, 900 of the third, 500 of the
fourth, 900 ofthe ftth, and 1900 of the sirth.
But the number of stars capable of being
seen by the telescope, has been reckoned "a
bove one hundred million and five now re-
gard it as probable that all nebule are cus-
tiers of stars, as indicated by Lord Rose
having resolved by his great telescope the
nebula of Orion, the number of stars, or
sans, or systems, may be regarded as beyond
the power of numerical expression.
In surveying the starry heavens, astrono-
mers naturally directed their attention to the
stars of the first magnitude Although the
smallest of our planets, when viewed with a
telescope of considerable magnifying power,
exhibit distinct circular disc, yet when the
same telescope was directed to Sir ius, Arc
turus and others, no trace of a disc was seen,
and the star appeared as brilliant point o.
light This fact alone demonstrated that
they were placed at an enormous distance
from the earth but as soon as it was found
that, even when observed with good instru-
ments, the same stars did not change their
place in the heavens when viewed from the
two extremities of the earth's orbit, base
of 100 millions of miles, astronomers de-
SPARED of obtaining anything like a meas
ure of their distance. BY the use OF I'M
proved instruments, however, and improved
methods of observation, it has been deter
mined by Mr.. Henderson and Mr.. Maclear,
after years of incessant labour that the par
alax of the nearest fixed star aCentauri, is
little more than nine-tenths of a second,
indicating distance so enormous, that If
sun were large enough to fill the whole OF
the earth's annual orbit, that sun would,
when seen through powerful telescope, have
diameter of only 9-l0ths of second J.
The celebrated Prussian astronomer, Pro-
fessor Bessel, whose death the whole sclen-
tifc world is at present deploring, found
paralax of one-third ola second in the doub-
| lie star, 81 Cygni, and M. Strive of Pulto-
va, a Russian astronomer of distinguished
reputation, has discovered a parallax of a
quarter of second in a LyrG.
After the telescope had undergone con-
siderable improvement, the attention oil as
tronomers was directed to what are called
double stars, or to two stars of the same or
of different magnitudes, that are, or appear
to be situated near one another. A star will
appear double, or will be officially double,
even when the one is far removed from the
other in space, and has no connexion what
ever with it but those stars only are prop
erly called doubled stars or are physically
double, in which the one revolyes round the
other, and thus forms what is called a HI
nary System. Nj. Argelander, has endeay-
CURED to separate the OFFICIALLY double stars
from the rest. Selecting ~ double stars,
whose distances varied from 81 seconds to z
minutes, he found that ID were physically
double, OFFICIALLY so, and doubtful. Con-
cluions, however, of this kind cannot be re-
ceved as vigorously true, till after centuries
of observation, and even then it is still pos
sibe that an OFFICIALLY double star may be a
system in'whch the period of revolution is
extremely great. The subject of double stars
is doubtless the greatest of the many lega-
cies which Sir w. Herschel bequeathed to
science. His views on this important branch
of astronomy were placed beyond doubt
by the study of Castor or aGeminorum, the
finest and largest of the double stars in our
hemisphere. During % years observation
from l77S to 1903, he could not perceive the
smallest change in the distance OF the two
stars, which was always about seven-eighths
of the diameter of the largest; but he noti-
EYbs numbers here given sufficiently accurate, aud
most Of them easily remembered