Saint Mary's beacon. [volume] (Leonard Town, Md.) 1867-1983, 1879-05-15

BEYOND III MILKT VA.
TIE connlless millions Of stars COM
posi- 4 lhe Milky Way appear tqsbe ar
fA 4 IN the form OF aai 4ape. or
fine 81 rather stratum. of irfek kular
Ea IT. extent j. 80 great - proper
81 i form : universe cf itself. fit
N4fl possible tonight to wing our fight
Ia any one Of the bright stars which
blaze afound rs, sweeping away from
auf 8wn system until planet after plan
eaf fades n the distance, and finally The
80 ilseif shFinks into . mere STAR
aliEhling On : slFange world that cir
6les aronnd new and magnificent sun,
Mhieh has grown and expanded u oar
5ehs until il blazes with magnifeehee
sHNaI a that of our own--hese lef NJ
pause and look out upon the starry hea3.
vens which now surround Us.
We have passed over sixty millions
Of millions Of miles. We have reached
q new system Of worlds, revolving about
another sun, and from this remote point
We have q right 10 expect a new hea-
vens, as well as new earth on which
we stand. But no. Lifl up your eyes,
and 10 the old familiar consultations
are all there. Yonder blazes Orion,
with its rich and gorgeous belt; there
comes Arcturus, and yonder the North
ern Bear circles his ceaseless journey
around the pole. All is unchanged, and
the mighty distance over which we have
passed is but the thousandth part OF the
entire diameter of this grand cluster Of
suns and systems; and although We
have swept from our sun TO the nearest
Fixed star, and have travelled distance
which light itself cannot traverse IN less
than ten years, yet the change wrought
by this mighty journey, m the appear
ance Of the heavens, is no greater than
would be produced in the relative posi-
tions Of the persons composing this au-
dience to person near its centre, who
should change hIs seat with his imme-
date neighbor.
Such, then, is the scale on which the
starry heavens are built. IL, in ex-
amining the magnificent orbits ofthe re-
moter plsnets, and in tracing the inter-
minable career Of some ofthe far-sweep-
ing comets, we feared there might not
be room for the accomplishment of their
vast orbits, our fears are now al an end.
There is no jostling here: there is no
interference, no perturbation OF the plan
cts Of one system by the suns OF another.
Each Is isolated and independent, fill
ing the region OF space assigned, and,
within its own limits, holding on its ap-
pointed movements.
Thus far we have spoken only Of the
Milky Way. In case il be possible to
pierce its boundaries, and pass through
into the regions OF space which lie be-
yond, the inquiry arises, what meets the
vision there! What lies beyond these
mighty limits Does creation cease
with the one great cluster, and is all
blank beyond ITS boundary
Here again the telescope has gwen
Us an answer. When we shall have
travelled outward from our own sun, and
passed in q straight line from star to
star, until we shall have left Behind US,
in grand perspective a series Of FIVE
hundred suns, We then stand on the
confines Of our own great cluster OF
stars. All behind blazes with the light
oi countless orbs, scattered in wild mag
nifcence, while all before US is deep,
impenetrable, unbroken darkness. No
glance of human vision can pierce the
dark profound.
But summonIng the telescope to our
aid, let US pursue our mighty journey
through space. Far in the distance we
are Just able to discover a faint haze Of
Iight--a minute luminous cloud which
comes up TO meet us-and towards this
object we will urge our fight. We
leave the shining millions of our own
great cluster far behind. Its stars are
shrinking and fading; IFS dimensions are
contracting. II once filed the whole
heavens, and now its myriads of blaz-
ing orbs could almost be grasped with
a single hand. But now look forward
A new universe, of astonishing gran
deur, bursts on the sight. TIE cloud cf
ligh. has sweIled and expanded, and is
millions of suns now Gil the whole hea-
vens.
We have reached the clustering of
ten millions of stars. Look to the right:
there is no limit. Look to the left: there
is no end. Above, below. sun rises
upon sun, and system upon system, in
endless and immeasurable perspective.
Here is a new universe, as magnificent,
as glorious as our own-a new Milky
Way, whose vast diameter the flashing
light would not cross in a thousand
years. Nor is this a solitary object.
Go out on clear, cold winter night,
and reckon the stars which strew The
heavens, and count their number-and
for every single orb thus visible to the
naked eye, the telescope reveals uni
verse, far sunk in the depths Of space,
and scattered with vast profusion over
the entire surface Of the heavens.
Some Of these blaze with countless
stars. while others occupying the con-
fines Of visible space, but dimly STAIN
the blue Of the sky, jest perceplible
with the most powerful means that man
can summon 20 the aid OF has vision.
These objects are called clusters and
nebule-cIusters when near enough to
permit their Individual stars to be shown
by the telescope, nebule when the min
gled light Of all their suns and systems
can only be seen as the hsKy cloud.
Thus have We asen in the orders Of
creation. We commenced with plan
ct and its satellite; We rose 10 the sun
and its revolving planets, magnificent
system of orbs, all united into one great
family, and governed BY the same great
law; and we now find millions Of these
suns clustered and associated together