The mountain Democrat., 1865-06-10
The Worlds Beyond

Astronomers tell us that the sun is $50
times larger than all the planetary globes
which revolvc around him.. and 300, 900
times larger than our own globe. Such is
the power of this luminary that the planet
Herschel is held in its orbit, lighted and
warmed by his brilliancy at the distance
of 300, 900, 900 miles from his surface.
Besides the sun and the planets which re-
volve around him, they belong to the same
system, comets, the purpose Of which is
apparently inconceiVable. Their magni-
tude aud rapidity of motion are equally
so. They, too, are also known to insig-
nifcant mortals to move with exact pre-.
cision. One Of them is by human agency,
known to be l 200, 200, 900 of miles from
the sun at its greatest distance, and to
move at the rate Of $4,000 miles in one
hour when nearest to him. The tail of
the comet which appeared in 1880 was
computed by Sir Isaac Newton to be 30
100000 of miles in length.
Magnificent and glorious as the solar
system may be, what is it in magnitude
and distance when compared with the
numberless worlds and systems beyond
ii? In every clear night the naked eye
can discover nearly thousand fixed stars,
which are supposed to be such luminaries
as the sun, aud have their attendant plan
cts, as We know our sun to have; they
will comprise a mass of mater equal to
|, ,420, 100000 Of globes Of the size of our
earth. The assistance with which the
human eye has obtained in extending its
view into the works Of nature by artifi-
cial means, diScloses to US the certainty
that orhs exist at such a distance from US
that cannon ball moving at the rate of
460 miles an hour, would require 9,O00,-
900 of years to pass from some OF them
to the earth. The sun is computed to be
100000 Of miles from the earth; yet,
in eight minutes and a quarter tho light
reaches US from that luminary. What
must be the magnitude Of luminous bod.
les which are seen with the help Of glasses
al such distance, that it would require
some years for the light to come from
them to the Garth ?
1t is said by some modern astronomers
that stars arc seen at such distance that
! light must have left them four hundred
years before it strikes our Garth. Beyond
all that is now known to US to exist, cher,
may be still other systems, all of them il
motion, and inhabited, it may be, by in
telligent beings. Where shall the imag
inaton fix the boundary Of creation p
From whatever point on the surface O
our sphere the eye is directed toward tn
firmament, worlds on worlds, ard system
on systems are disclosed. Are we in tn
center Of the universe? Arc we in som
remote extremity Of the universe
there be a center, if there be limit to th,
works of nature, what is there beyond
them, and who and what exist where ma
ture does not exist and rcignP
But if we arc astonished at the magni
tude and distance of these luminaries
how much more so must we be, when VIZ
try to think of them collectively and ir
motion. We know that, like the sub
stance of the earth, they are held by the
law of gravitation, and we know what
strength it requires to remove weight oi
a hundred pounds. If we could suppose
our comparatively y small earth to be per.
(ectly smooth ball on a plane, it is believ-
cd that it would require a mechanical
force which no human mind can compute
to give it any motion. Yet we know that
it moves at the rate Of GS,000 miles in
every hour, revolving as it flies, yet so
easily and surely that We have no perccp-
ton of its motion. The planet Mercury
moves at the rate Of 1850 miles in q sin.
gle mnutc;a motion which may be meas
ured by sup2osinS ball to pass from
America TO Europe IN one minute and
three quarters, or around our earth in
seventeen minutes.