The Lambertville record. [volume] (Lambertville, N.J.) 1872-1968, 1875-09-08
MISCELLANY.
WHAT ARE THE STARS.
BY PROF. NJ. RUDOLPH.


No human being, probably, ever looked
heayenward without, almost unconsciously,
asking himself this question, and yet, strange
to say, thousands have gone through long
life without ever earnestly seeking an intelli-
gent answer.
1t is more strange, as no scene of earth is
SO impressive and so sublime AS the heavens
on clear night, when all the glorious constel-
lations are out in their full splendor, and
seem by their inccssant twinkling, to be out
exchanging signals with their fellow-stars on
the outskirts of the universe. And what ra-
tional being can contemplate these mysterious
bodies and not be awed bYa sense of a Sd
preme and Almighty Intelligence 1t would
seem as if the midnight assassin, with those
myriad worlds looking down upon him in all
their silent majesty, must be arrested in the
very act of crime.
But, unfortunately, to Che masses, the
wondrous character Of these worlds is un
known, SO that view of the heavens, in all
their glory excites no higher emotions than
are awakened by a gaudy picture, or by the
tinsel of the playhouse. But an intelligent
survey of the heavens excites emotions of a
far different character. To distinguish
systena from system, and world from world !;
to be acquainted with their various and
wondrous phenomena; to find ten thousand
suns-each superior to our own-crowded in
to comparative point of space, and yet
separated by distances beyond human con-
ception to penetrate the unbelievable
depths above, beneath and around us, and
everywhere find new worlds bursting upon
our view with each increase of telescope
power-this must give us higher views of
Omnipotence, and overwhelm as in unuttera-
BILE establishment at the vastness of Jehovah's
empire. This view will also help us to see
more clearly our own personal littleness and
comparative nothingness, and better enable
us, too, to understand the exceedingly great,
folly of presuming to contend many way with
crush us and an entire world in a moment of
time.
BUT WHAT ARE THE STARS?
And here Science answers with 10 faltering
voice, and the answer is, "They are all suns,
many of them thousands of times greater than
our sun, and affording vastly more light and
heat than does our sum- Were our globe
placed as near to some Of these stars as it is
to the sun, all animal and vegetable life would
not only be instantly destroyed, but all metals
and even the very rocks would be melted, and
the whole mass reduced to molten or liquid
state, sit, vas thousands of years before it
cooled down and resumed its present form.
Now let us see if there is any satisfactory
proof of this startling assertion.
First, we have proof in the fact that they
are visible to us, notwithstanding their imp
mensc distance, Reflected light. e., like
that of the moon-has comparatively but little
power to penetrate space. For instance, the
planet Neptune--the outermost planet of our
family of worlds--is about 2, 750, 600, 900 miles
distant, but, although more than hundred
tinisS larger than our world, and having
diameter of 375, 900 miles, yet not one ray of
it's light reaches our unaided eye, because that
light is the borrowed or reflected light of the
sun, like the moons. Now let it be borne in
mina. mat the nearest star is many millions OF
times more distant than the planet Neptune,
and yet, while by the naked eye no trace of
Neptune can be seen, the star is distinctly
visible without telescope, because it shines,
not by reflected, but by its own native light,
HOW DO WE KNOW THAT THE STARS ARE SO
4s DISTANT?
This question is proper. We will endeavor
to answer it. This distance of the stars is
proven by the startling fact that we cannot in
the least degree magnify them, even with our
largest telescopes. If, for instance, we poiut
large instrument to planet-which appears
like star--that planet is magnifed to the
size of the moon but if we point the same
telescope to star. VIC find its brilliancy only
is increased, while its magnitude remains pre-
cisely the same. This is true, however pow
erful the glass used. There will apparently
be some increase of diameter but it is only
an optical illusion, as is proven by the very re-
markable fact that if we draw single spider
thread across the glass of the telescope, the
SPIDERS thread will completely cover and en-
tdrely shut out from view the stars. This
proves that the star is not in the slightest de-
gree magnified, but, when seen, even through
earth mightiest instrument, is mere point
of light
! Now let us endeavor to understand what