The Toledo chronicle. [volume] (Toledo, Tama County, Iowa) 1873-1924, 1875-02-25

The pale face vanished. Uncle Cole
man, with ceremonious bow, took hi
departure, while Lucia rockingham
went into genuine Mysteries on the sofa
| Uncle Coleman joined Frank ON the
porch and, linking his arm in hi
nephew's, said, kindly:
Forgive me the pain cause you fOl
the love bear you"
81 thank you," was the reply. "You
have saved me life of misery by show
ing me mercenary woman's treachery
shall never feel any emotion but graft
tude that you proved your words"
The King Of Suns.
AMONG the numerous truths stranger
than felton, which the study Of astron
omy has revealed are those relating to
the glorious orb called Sirius, commonly
known as the "Dog STAR" During the
winter season it glows upon our nocturnal
heavens with q luster which is un.
equaled by any other star in the tirma
ment.
At the present time Sirius is conspic
uous and interesting object, rising short.
ly after sunset and continuing above oul
horizon throughout the entire night
being the brightest and largest, apparent
ly, Of all the stars which adorn our sky
| From time immemorial the star Sirius
has been regarded as one of the mos,
notable orbs in space, not alone on &C
count of his superior brilliancy, but also
the many influences which he was sup.
posed, at certain periods, to exercise over
earthly objects. In ancient times, when
every man was his own astronomer, the
rising and setting of Sirius was watched
with mingled apprehensions of hope and
fear, as it seemed warning Of prosperi-
ty in agriculture, or else lasting and
blighting drought. 1t also foretold the
rising of the river Nile, and was consid.
cred an infallible sign of the proper time
to sow grain. The Egyptians were able
to determine the exact length of our
year by recording the number of its ris-
ings.
Each year the Romans were accus-
toned to sacrifice brown dog to Sirius,
which they believed would somewhat
mitigate his evil influence upon their
herds and fields. Hence arose the
familiar name "dog-star," which has
been handed down to our own time.
When Sirius rose with the sun it was
| supposed that he blended his influence
with the heat of that luminary and pro-
duced remarkably high temperature
over the earth. Thus, also, originated
that common expression dog-days,"
when Sirius was believed to greatly in
crease the heat of summer at particular
times in the year. This supposed influ-
ence of Sirius, although wholly unbound
ed, is even now advocated by many su-
perstitious persons who attribute to the
so-called "dog-days" multiplicity of
well-known occurrences.
The star Sirius is situated in the con-
stellation CAMS Major, or the "Great
Dog" consisting of thirty-one stars, and
almost universally known from the
brightness of its leading orb, but which
otherwise possesses no noteworthy at
fractions. The low position of Sirius
being elevated only few degrees above
our southern horizon-renders it some
what unfavorable for observation. But
Sirius is superb orb in our winter even
ing sky, and far surpasses, both in brill
fancy and apparent size, even its nearest
rivals. 1t reaches the meridian in our
latitude at nine o'clock on the 11th of
February, and then presents charming
appearance, being most desirably situated
for careful study in the heavens during
the winter.
Owing to the superior size of Sirius it
was at one time naturally supposed that
he must be the nearest star to our earth,
but modern observation has proved that
this is not the case. The distance to any
star can only be determined by its mo-
tion. In the majority of cases not even
the slightest movement can be detected.
But Sirius is one of those few stars
whose distance has been approximately
ascertained by astronomers. The bright
star Alpha Centauris, in the southern
heavens, has the most rapid motion
known and is therefore considered the
nearest to our earth. Sirius gives evil
dence of proper motion, about five
times as slow, and its distance from us is
estimated at 1876, 900 times the suns
distance from the earth, which is about
81, ,43O, ,OOG miles. The mind utterly fails
to comprehend the immeasurable dis
tance which separates our little world
from that blazing sun in space. Light,
which travels 183, 900 miles every second
"a velocity almost inconceivable to us
requires twenty-five years to traverse
the distance between Sirius and our
planet.
The size of Sirius has also been deter
mined. This was accomplished by COM
pairing his light with that received from
Alpha Centauris. The result is, indeed,
startling. 1t is estimated that this star
has volume exceeding that of our sun
over 1900 times, and diameter of four
teen times larger. We may justly con.
slider Sirius as the center of scheme of
worlds, and imagine them as peopled by
creatures far more advanced in intelli-
gence than ourselves. But we are at q
loss to conceive of that vast scale ON
which the system of Sirius must neces-
sarily be fashioned.
Remarkable changes have taken place
III the color of Sirius since it was first
observed by astronomers. When astron-
omy was in its infancy the light Of this
star was q fiery red color. It subse-
quently faded to pure white, but at
the present time Sirius shines in our
heavens with pale-green hue which is
easily perceived with the naked eye on
these fine wintry nights.
One very striking circumstance in con-
nection with the star Sirius is the amaz-
ing fact that it has been found to be re-
ceding from our earth ct the rate of
twenty-nine and one-half miles per sec
ond. Even with this incredible speed
the passage of million years will make
no perceptible difference in the appear.
ance of the king-star Of our universe.
BY means Of the spectroscope, in the
hands Of Prof. Higgins, Sirius has been
found to posscss elements which are
identical with those discovered in our
own sun and throughout the entire solar