The Tipton advertiser. [volume] (Tipton, Cedar Co., Iowa) 1856-1962, 1856-12-06
Tho ImIon ity 4 Czeati :.

q
ton OF the D4d1ey Observatory
BuI /. is when We turn our ohscrvatioa
and our Thoughts from our own system,
to the system winch lies beyond II IN the
heavenly spaces that we approach a more
adequate conception Of the yastness OF
creation. All analogy teaches US that
the sun which gives light to Us, IS but one
OF those stellar fires which deck the fir.
mament, and that every glilterlng star 10
that shining host, is the center OF q sys-
hem as vast ard as f,li Of subordinate Ia.
i mlnaries as our egn. Of these suns =
centers OF planetary systems - thousands
are visible 10 the naked eye, millions are
discovered by the telescope. Sir JOAN
Herscheli In the account OF his operations
at the Cape OF Good Hope (p. 3Sl) CAL
cula,es that about five and hall miIlous
OF stars are visible enough to be distinct
~ counted IN twenty foot retiec.
tor IN both hemispheres He adds tha,
the actual number is much greater there
can De but ltule doubt His iluslnous
father estimated on one occasion, that
'2o, 900 stars passed through the field OF
his forty foot reflector, IN "a quarter of an
hour. This would give II 600 900 lor
the entire circuit OF the heavens, in a
single telescope zone; and this estimate
was made under the assumption that the
netula were masses OF luminous matter
not yet condensed into suns.
| These stupendous calculations, Lowev-
er, form but the first column oi the lnven
tory OF the universe. Faint white specks
are visible even TO the naked eve Of
practical observer in ditIercu parts of the
heavens. Under high masnifying pow
ers, thousands oil such sp Is are visible
no longer, however, !aint white specks,
but many of them resolved by powerful
telescopes into vast agyregations OF stars
each OF which may, with propriety, be
compared with the milky way. Many of
these nebuIm, however, resisted the pow
er OF SIR VIM. Herschell's great reflector
and were, accordingly, sill regarded By
him as masses OF uniformed matter no,
| Yet condensed into suns. This, till a few
years since, was perhaps the prevailing
| opinion: - and the nebular theory filled a
large space in astronomical science.
! But with the increase OF instrumental
power. especially under the mighty grasp
OF Lord Ross gigantic reflector and the
great relfactors al Balceva and Cambridge
the most irresolvabe of these nebuln
have given away, and the be.ter opinion
now IS that everyone of them Is q galaxy
like our own milky way, composed OF
millions Of suns. In other words, we are
brought to the bewildering conclusion
that thousands of these misty specks, the
greater part OF them too faint to be seen
with the naked eye are not each a uni
verse like our solar system, but each
swarm oil unlverses OF unappIeciabIe
magnitude. (Humboldt, Cosmos Ill.
Al The mind sinks oyerpowered by
the contemplation. We repeat the words
but they no longer convey distAct ideas
to the understanding.
But these conclusions, however vast
their comprehension, carry US but anolh-
er step forward in the realms of sderial
astronomy. A proper motion ia space,
oi our sun, and oi the fixed stars, as We
call them,has long been believed 10 exist.
The vast distances only preven its being
more apparent The great Improvement
In instruments OF measurement w.thin the
last generation, has not only established
the existence Of this motion, but has poia-
red 10 the region IN the starry vault
abound which our solar aud stellar svs.
tenn, with lis myriad OF attendant plane
tary worlds, appears to be performing a
mighty revolution. Ii then, we assure
that outside OF the system to which we
belong, and IN which our sun is but
star, like Aldebaran or Sirius, lAe differ
ent nebuIn OF which we have spoken
thousands of winch spo, the heavens
constitute distinct family OF universes,
we must, following the guide Of analogy,
attribute to each OF them also, beyond all
the revolutions OF their individual plane
tary systems, great revolution compre-
hendlng the whole; while The same course
OF anaIoglcal reasoning would lead US
stlll farther onward, and in the last anal
ysls require US 70 assume a transcenden-
tai connection between all these miohy
systems "a universe oil uniYerses, ,circllup
round in the lntin'ty Of space and preser-
wing It's equilibrium by The same laws Of
mutual attraction which bind the iower
worlds together.
IL may be thought that conceptions like
these are calculated rather to depress
than TO elevate US in the scale oil being
that, baashed as he is by the coatempIa-
tons, 10 a corner OF creation, aad there
reduced 10 an atom, man sinks 10 moth
lngness IN this lnhAity Of worlds. But Il
second thought colrect3 the impression
These vast coAtempiatloas are well ca-
culated 10 INSPIRE awe but not basement
Mind and matter are lncommeusurat le
An Immortal soul even while clothed IN
this muddy Festure OF decay, j. in the
eye oil God and reason, purcr essence
tnanthe brightest sun that lights the dept IS
OF heaven. The oagaulzed human eye.
lhsIlnct with lie and souls, which gaziag
through Inc telescope. travels up to the
cloudy speck III the handle OF Oriou's
sword, and blds it blaze form mo a gal
aAy vast as ours, stands bigher IL the or
der Of being than al! that host OF lumua-
rles. ! he intellect ol Newton, which
discovered the la that holds the revoly-
lng worlds together S n Goh.ef " nrk uI