The weekly democratic statesman. [volume] (Austin, Tex.) 1871-1883, 1880-05-20
The Grsa. star D...aness.


The method OF finding the distance
of the stars, or stellar paralIsx, is one
OF the interesting problems of modern
astronomy. In the days Of old the
stars were supposed to hold the same
position in regard to each other from
age to age, and were therefore called
fixed stars, to distinguish them from
planets. Nothing can be farther from
the truth. The telescope shows that
the stars are in constant motion, but
thst the rate of motion ia 60 slow that
thousands of years must elapse before
the eye can perceive the change, Some
stars are coming toward us, aud some
are recedlng from US. The sun, which
is only star, is moving with all the
planets IN his train. Our earth, which
is but an atom among atoms, is whirl-
ing, no one knows whittier, through il
lImltable space. Even the serene heaven
above Us is this same space pervsded
by an infinitely subtle ether, whose
PARTICLES are seethiDg and surging like
the waves OF the stormy sea. The
motion of the stars once established, II
must follow that some Of them are
nearer to us than others, and very per-
sistent and pslnstsking lave been the
efforts to ind out which of the shining
suns OF space sre our nearest neigh
boTs.
Success has, however, crowned pa
tient labor. Among the fifty million
stars that GUNNER in the firmsment,
there are about dozen stars visible II
our latitude that have parallax rang
Ing from q tenth to half a second. 1t
would be natural to suppose that the
brightest stars are the nearest, but this
ir far from beng the case. The near
est star IN the northern heavens is o
double star of the fifth magnitude in
the Swan known as 81 Cygni. The
brilliant Sirius is nearly twice as far
away. The nearest star IN the whole
heavens is Alpha Centsuri, bright
star near the south pole. This has u
parallax of nine-tenths of second, and
is twice as near as any other star. Ito
distance is computed az more than two
hundred thousand times our distance
from the sun, or twenty millions of
millions of miles. If such be the in
conceivable distance separating US from
the nearest star, what idea can the finite
mind form of the immensity of space
intervening between US and the more
remotei
Vigorous work is low being done in
stellar parallsx by what is called Bes-
sells method. A star with proper me-
ton. or one that has been found to ap-
prosch or reeede from the sun, is Sc
lected, and Its position is compared
night after night by means of the mi
crometer with other small stars IN the
vicinity having no proper motion, and
therefore presumed to be farther away.
The star with proper motion will change
its position in regard to the more re-
mote ones when observed from differ
ent parts of the esrth's orbit. Some
interesting and intricate work of this
kind has been successfully completed
at Mr.. Seagrave's private observatory
by Mr.. Waldo and Mr.. Seagrave. The
problem was to determine the par
allax of star called Theta Cas-
siop.e. This, by measuring it's
position aud distance from two small
stars in the vicinity, was found 10 be
lcss than one.tenth of q second. These
enthusiastic astronomers worked upon
the problem from the frat of Septem-
Der, 1873, to the first Of November,
1879. During that time they made
measurements of each star on one hun
dred and twenty nights. a trained
eye, keen perception and mathematical
precision, as we'll SIS patience and per-
sistence. were involved in the solution
of this delicate. and intricate problem.
These are the means by which astron-
omy has won its most brilliant tri-
umphs, and those who would become
practical astronomers must give their
nights to observation and their days to
study.