Staunton spectator. [volume] (Staunton, Va.) 1849-1896, 1878-04-09
Facts about the Stars.

| IL tAo ulgnlCy OF science Is 10 De
measured by the inability of the human
mind to comprehend its teachings, As
troHemy is certainly the noblest Of all.
We very much doubt if any man really
has clear idea of all that is implied
when the distances of the planets from
the sun are stated; and it is hardly less
difficult to understand all that has been
discovered in relation to the sun itself.
How much can we comprehend about q
place where the diameter of the earth
would be q convenient measure with
which to ascertain the height of flames
Have we any just conception of the in-
tensity of heat sufficient to vap0rize iron?
1t is, however, when we, in imagination,
leave the Solar System, and start ON q
journey to the stars, that we begin to
understand how insignificant cur earth
really is. 1t might serve to measure the
diameters of the stars, but for the dis
tance OF the very nearest star known to
US, Alpha Centauri, we must take an
other measure-i. e., the distance of the
earth from the sun. Alpha Centauri is
more more than 100000 times the dis
lance, and if the reader wishes to test
his powers of comprehension let him at
tempt to grasp the import of this state
ment. He may be aided by comparing
Az tA1hSS ldAlllaI W us lily
miles an hour is very fast time for an
express train; but at this period the
journey to that star would take over
forty millions of gears. The velocity of
light is over 10000 miles a second and
it requires OUer three gears for the light
of the nearest star to reach US.
The brightest star visible to us Is Siri-
us, which is at five times as great dis
tance from us as Alpha Centauri. It
has been calculated that this star gives
out 300 times as much light as the sun.
Now, we have no means of knowing
the size of Sirius; but if the light Of
that star is equal in intensity to that of
the sun, its diameter must be nearly 18
times, and its mass over 1900 times az
great. It is possible that its light is
more intense than this, but even if twice
as bright as the sun, it must be II times
as great in diameter. Even this diane
ter, over ten millions of miles, is be-
yond anything Of which we have an
actual idea. An express train, at so
miles an hour, would require more than
seventy years to complete the circuit of
such a sphere.
The next star to Sirius in brightness,
as seen from the earth, is Canopus, q
star which cannot be seen further North
than the most sOutherly portions of the
United States. This star is between
one-half and three quarters as bright as
Sirius, and as it shows no displacement
from the annual motion of the earth,
we are forced to the conclusion that it
must be larger than Sirius-perhaps
many times as large. The distances Of
only about ten stars have ever been es-
timated, and of the others visible, we
can not even guess at their distances or
sizes. All we can safely say is that they
must be bodies of enormous size in COM
parisen with the planets. Doubtless
many Of them are far larger than the
sun. Even the stars, seen only through
the most powerful telescopes, must be
large as compared with the earth. They
may appear faint from being really small,
but it would seem more reasonable to
suppose that they are, as rule, COM
parable to our sun, and that they are
faint merely from the effect of distance.
/ IN. Y. Mer. Journal.