Lancaster daily intelligencer. [volume] (Lancaster, Pa.) 1864-1928, 1880-02-10
1aaeaster. fntellige,lccTn
TUESDAY EVENING, FKB. 10, 1890.
Popular .Xstrpnsniy.
now THE Study OB. IT IS sasIsEADING

an idea OF how the study 81 popular as
tronomy is spreading through the county
under the influence 0f the - Star club - in
this city. At a late meeting Of the Litiz
lyceum Robbie Tshudy, a lad eleven years.
Of age, told the audience what ire has I
learned about astronomy during this term.
Robbie is q son Of the late X. X. Tshudy, |
a bright little fellOE, and a <'chip of the !
old block" :. Below is An abstract VI his
talk :. -.....',.'~' 80" S''r~.',i"t III 1iii~i
We have j 10 text.book 5on,; astronomy
in our school it is htby LECTURES and /
while the teacher talks we note down i'm
portant points. Every lecture is iiiust,at-
ed by drawings on the blackboard which |
aid US very Duch in understanding the
subject. I propose te-Htgh to read you
few OF my notes, and although they are
somewhat disconnected they will giTe you
an idea Of what we are thinking about: 7 /
In our first general talk on astronomy
we were tod what notions the anclents
had about the stars-we took no notes THIS
time, but when the talk came down to the
pTesent day we commenced to write: oar
first note reads .:The stars which you
see form the universe. There are, many
uuiyerses in space" This was the btageH
thought that had ever entered our minds.
As the thought came in, my head began to
swell. and the scalp las felt tight ever
since.
Sotee. "Our S11u i, a star and the rca-
son Why it is 50 much Larger and brighter
than the rest is because it il nearest to US,
Many Of the stars We see are much larger
and brighter than our sun .. ........... ...
Note j; The star. shine because they
are white-hot They arc great balls Of
hot metals, burning more tiercclT than
ANYTHING ws can imagine. y ''' De ..''
Our second lesson WAS abOu! the moon.
The first note reads - The Moon is a
planet of the Earth, as aIs- Earth Is
planet Of the sun.
The backward illustration showed Us
the path Of the Moon around the Ea1th as
we'll as the cause of It's changes. .,. .....,
Note 2. '!The Moon is "A dead planet,
having days two weeks hong and far hotter
than our equator, while tlfe nights arc
colder thau OH north pole, and arc also
two weeks Ions.' ".~ --'
Note 8. "Tile deep rocky valleys i'll the
most dIeaTy places imagmabIe, being
miles in depth. -~
Note 4. '"The Earth il fifty times as
largo as the Noon which WAS no doubt at
one time a star but it's heart ieing gone
il is now dead its volcanoes are gone out
its OCEANS dried up and it is in the condl-
tr,n which the Earth will attain 20, OOO, ODD
Of years hence. -
Note J. The Noon has no wind, no
air, no twiHgl,ts, no sound cvcrywherc
it is q silent, lifcIcss desert. We never sec
but one side of it. :"
Our third lesson was about the Sun:
Note /. "Thc sun lights and warns the
planets and keeps them in their places by
its weight. Ii is 81, 900 900 miles away
A train of cars running at the rate OF 30
miles All hour would reach the sun in :;::;S
years A. train running around the Earth
at the same rate would accomplish the
Journey in abont :, month"
Note Q. "Thc Sun weighs 900, 900 times
~ much as our Emth. Astronomers can
weigh apd inca sure the stars fAmDtlHa
big thonght.) ... .....
NDtc 3. "Thc Sun docs The heavy work
s. Of the world. 1t is the. source of all life
and 2rcry- -,sosluct whiah s,s~Sslins life
Note 4. at is not known whore all tho
. fuel comes from 1sllbA laaI,s tlosun burn.
ing, but tits probable that at splnc time
the supply will be Exhausted and the Sun
with the planets which surround il
will bc welded together and roll
through Space cpld, black
ball, aS dark M tlIc moon now is.
Our next lesson was about comets and me.
teprs, but :.s did not take nOtcS that day,
I can not give you particulars. know
hOwcvcf that comets arc 'maSScS Of gas,
not solid bodies Mcte0rS are coinposcd
of PARTICLES Of matter tiOsting in spaec
The carti, crosses their path at the rate %
LOO miles minute. Tho matter Of tl'.
Incte0rs iscoming at the rate Of 30 miles ;
second Whg,I it comes into our air thu
united force and motion Of the earth am
this matter causes il to burn, and hcnc'
We sec itas VIC would see any other fire.
Meteoric. showers 0Gcur mostly in No
vcmber. They come <tllc most brillian
oncs) every 81 years. Sometimes. thes'
n,ctcoaic masses reach the earth bc
fore they are entirely consnmcd, then W.
' .linve fnctcOiic.slNywcrs.' '''
Our ncxt lesson was upon the lat
eclipse :; It was tn, most interesting ON
We have ever had, although ! took III
notes. Il was SO eager to hear every wore
that did not stop TO, write points. Thu
blackboard illustrations showed us how
the shadow of tho Moon falls upon tn,
earth during tllt time il, is between 'tir
Sun and the earth, and wewcre told villa
the astronomers busy themselves. ;,bou
during the eclipse, rs this is their best op
portunty TO observe either the Sun or tic
Moon Ono thing in particular | rcmc m
' bcr-that an astronomer during the cclips'
of 1878 said he had found the lost. plane
Vulcan which tho European ASTRONOMER
have been looking for SO long. OF cours'
thOse wiseanres across the water said h'
- was :afi irhpiidcnt fellow, but investigations
during the last eclipse proved that he wa.
correct" ard I'd" johnny Bull'' and tin
. " "KaiserS ~ stOppcd laughing, at 9 loun,
America. !" i have no time to tell you mucl
more tonight; l will only say that the bcs
way to hunt up the stars in the sky is Il
.tnkc some constellation as u starting pOin'
and from It find the rest. We start from
the bolt Of Orion, run straight line south
cast t6 Sirius, the brightest star i'll the sky
il is 5000 times as large rs our sun. G'
back to the belt of Orion, run line dircc
to the Plciades, you will pass through
.Aldcbaran and the Hyades. With cclcs
tIll map you can find the rest (Or any sta
you wantJ:' II there is any one .presen
who would like to have me point ont thes
stars il they will stay outside with me
will show them. '''"'' ''. FL H.
.. a.. The little fellow hcre led the way, o,t
into tho street and pointed out the cOnstel
lation Of Orion and the stars which consti
tutc it: Then dlew a triangle to Procy0l
in the Little Dog. naming the stars. HI
next traced the limo to Pleiades, pointCC
out .Aldebarali>and other stars, to the entir,
- satisfaction ,pf those who accompanied
-.