Yorkville enquirer. [volume] (Yorkville, S.C.) 1855-2006, 1856-06-05

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the "sheen of their spears" alone that CLAN,
ces to the earth.
Of the army of stars that stands guard
around mans dwelling-place, some four OF
FIVE thousand are visible to the naked eye;
these are the nearer lines of the wonderful
armament, resting within the scope of the
short-sighted human organ of vision. But
let it be imagined, that whilst man and his
ponderous earth hangs upon nothing in the
void, as they do-balanced by the Almighty
hand-these four or five thousand stars are
drifted away to join their companions in the
milky zone; and next let it be further con-
ceived that they do not stop even there, but
that they and the milky zone then float on
wards, deeper and deeper into the far-stretch-
ing realms; than the entire form of light
would be gathered up, as it was removed
further and further, into smaller and mar
rover dimensions. From wide and long
stream, it would first be dwarfed into mar
row patch; then this patch would dwindle
into speck and at last it would be flmy
something, seen and yet not seen, cheating
the sharpest eye, and floating nevertheless as
dream of vision hardly beyond its reach.
If, however, large telescope were now di-
rected towards this "dream of vision" it
would again become vision, aslarge perhaps
as fourpenny-piece, and as bright, on the
dark field of the midnight sky, as the faintest
Whit of curl-cloud that the eye ever discern
ed on the blue canopy of a summers day
The stars would all have been absorbed into
the ''galaxy," "and this galaxy would then be
seen from without, instead Of from within.
Tt would be contemplated as curious min
iature, hung upon the black walls of space,
instead of being surveyed as glorious sur
rounding panorama. Such, then, is the re-
mote and external aspect of a star-galaxy.
But how if the deep black walls of space
are really hung by series of such galactic
miniatures How, if the sable curtains
that infold the earth are really the draperies
of picture gallery, in which star-systems
are exhibited by hundreds to telescope gaze?
Such really is the case. The magical teles-
cope Of the present day not only sees stars
by myriads in the Milky-Way, but out far
beyond, in other directions, it contemplates
other wondrous star-groups, completely en-
compassed by the void, and cut off from
each other, as from the star-frmament of
mans nocturnal sky, by chasms of absolute
desolute desolation and emptiness-islands
without number on the broad ocean of the
infinite; archipelagoes of the unfathomable
depth, separated by intervals of all but in
conceivable vastness. Not less than four
thousand suck galaxy miniatures have now
been marked and numbered in the catalogues
of the star-exhibition all of them forms that
are familiarly known, and that can be identi-
fled at any instant by the jealous exhibitors
who have constituted themselves their emu
merators and more are continually present
ing, as telescopes of the highest power are
directed to fresh regions of research.
But, although of almost inconceivable ex-
tent, the intervals that lie between these
shining islands of the void are not immeas-
urable: an approximate idea of their vast
ness has been realized by science. The
measure, however, that is used in the esti-
nation is of a very novel kind : it starts with
the circumference of the great earth as its
standard unit; but it very soon finds that
this unit is all too small for the work that is
on hand, and so converts this into term of
a much higher order. The terrestrial sphere
is $4,000 miles round it would take rail
way-carriage, travelling continuously at the
rate of 100 miles every three hours, one
month to encircle it. Such material vehi-
Gle cannot be transported to the nearest star,
as there are no railways laid down through
space; but there is a messenger that habitu-
ally performs this journey, and that gives in
telligible indications of the rate of its pro-
gress whilst doing So Light-beams pass
from star to star through the intervening
chasms, and unite the whole by network
of connection. 1t is by means, of such light
beams that information is brought to the
earth Of the existence of these surrounding
bodies. These light-beams flash along in
their progress so rapidly, that they 60 eight
times as far again in second as the railway
carriage does in month. AS far as mere
speed is concerned, they are able to put
girdle eight times round the earth, while
common clock makes single beat. Can it
be ascertained then, how long the light
beam that comes from the nearest star, to
tell of its existence, has to spend upon the
journey? because if it can, this may give an
elementary expression that will prove to be
manageable in yet higher computations. By
converting twenty millions of units that are
determined by periods of steam-speed, into
one unit that is determined by light-speed,
a new comprehensive span is obtained, that
may certainly be used as link in a very
long chain indeed. Since light goes eight
times as far in second as steam-carriages
do in thirty-one days, the speed of light is
better than twenty millions of times as great
as that of steam.
The sun is $500 times as far again from
the earth as the earth is around. This dis
tancc, is so great, that it would take rail-
way-carriage, moving at the rate of 100 miles
every three hours, $50 years to get through
it; but the earth itself, travelling with speed
of better than $4,000 miles per hour, gets
through journey Of a like extent-that is
95, 100000 of miles--in something like two
months. The earth sweeps through $4,000.