Bristol news. [volume] (Bristol, Va. & Tenn.) 1867-189?, 1878-06-25
Facts About the Stars.

IF the dignity of a science is TO be
! measured 10y the Inability of the hu-
man mind 10 cOnpr heud its teach
ings, Astronomy il certainly the no
blrSt of all We very much doubt if
any man really mas a clear idea of all
that is implied when the distances of
the planets from The SUD are stated =:
and it is hsrdly less difficult 10 under
stand all that has been discovered in
relation to the sun itself How much
can we comprehend about place
where the diameter Of the earth wnuld
be a conN enieUt measure with which
to ascertain the height Of flames ,
Have we any just conception of the
intensity of heat sufficient To vaporiZe
iron ? 1t il, however. when we, in
Imagination, leave the Solar System,
aud start on innrney to the stars,
that we begin to understand how In
significant our earth really il. IL
might serve 10 measure the diameters
of the stars, but for the distance of The
very nearest star known 10 US, Alpha
Centauri, we must take another meas
ure-i. e. the distance CE the earth
from the sun. Alpha CentauTi is more
than 200 Coz times the distance. and IL
tue itGNltI " lsittr ~ AfSt illH Fls's t-fS ilf
mpreheHsiuu let him attempt ta
grasp the import of this statement
He may be aided hy con pairing it with
things familiar th IL Fifty mites Hn
hour j. very fast lime for an express
train hu, at t!I;s speed ti:e Journey to
that s,ar would take .f0rty millions Of
ycn-S. The ye'nciiy Of light is over
10000 miles q 8ecOHd and il requires
OCsr tarle gears for the light of the
ucsrtst star 20 reach us.
The lIj-ltcst star visible to us is
Sirius. which is at five times As great
Il distance from us as a j.ha Ceutauri
3. 49, a,, 3. c.,.,u,a,ed that this star
gives out SEQ times as much light IS
the sun. Now. we have no means of
Knowing the size of sirius hut if the
light "a! that star is equal in intensity
To that Of the sun. its diameter Eust
h- reariY is times and its mass over
> 200 times, ~ great II is possible
that lis light l. more intense than this,
but even If twice a. bright a. the sun,
II must he y times as great in dame
ter. Even this diameter. over ten
millions Uf miles, IL beyond anything
of which we have ain actual idea An
express tram. nt 50 miles an hour,
would require more than seventy
years I" complete the circuit nl such
sphere.
The next star to SiritiI IL bright |
ness, as seen from the earth. l. Cann- |
pu-, star which cannot be see n |
fnrther North than tie most southtr-
" portions Of the United States Thia I!
star is brtween One-ualf and three
quarters as bright as Sirius. AMI as il |
shows no displacement from the AN |
nual motion Uf the earth, we are |
forced To the conclusion that il must |
hp larger than Sirius r-rhals many |
times a laIUp. The distances of only |
altout ten StaTS have ever been r-tima
ted and of tue othpr- Ni~ibir. We can |
not even guess at their distances ur
S'Zrs. y we can safely say iS that
they must hp bodies of enormous siZp
in comparison with the planets
Dnu'tlrsS nnny of them are far larger
than HE sun Even the stars. seen
pnlY through the most powerful telr
5 'upe- must be large as compared
with The earth. They may appear
faInt from being really small. Lut 1t
would seem more reasonable tO SUP
pose that they are. a. rule cuunI,Aru-
hl" to our sun. aud rhal they are faint
merely from the eff-ct of distance -
" Y. Ncr JOuTHCi