, 1881-07-24
TIE SUMS MOTTO S,

To thr Ed.tnr ot tn. Chieago 7,1bun&.
PORTAGE. Wis. July :n.-WiIl THE TRIBUNE
,sfrnnomer p'tase rep!y t. the following qucs~
snct, Of surne readers WIN do not know where
::nIurn TOR tnc information: III Does the sun
vyoSy nna nl,n1 m Que reyo.uon 20 eftn M 3 10, o.
:un frayt ling through space? ~ II SO, at whit
:aur;ty. IL. nneS its track ihr&1uCh space cnu-
IS, .. !, circular or el!fptc;'l or1: ~ Wha, is
~ extent Of thus orbit and where Is its centre:
- IN what lcu.th TT l:nlr dues it perform Que
,.rcu.t: Very respectfully. j. y. MASON.
4 The sun ,t1ldtrs upon his own axis, while the
-1ant1s F-rU rC ar.>uAu Iain
=. The rotation pf tho sun upon his axis
ia p.rfor,ned in about ~. uuys, with refer
enee 10 the moving earth; Or ssj.3 days with
,cfrrcucc to the stars, WHICH are. relatively, ut
rrst. The latter is called the period Of sldcrcal
,o,,..ap The titnt cart.ut however, bt suid 10
r., accurately kaowa. Tho vcioc,t of rota,ipu
,.sn ouir b. obtained tr'n observing tho rate ut
which the "el"'ts see,n to travel across his
di-s.: aud Tie spots appeur 1u have L motion OF
1he,r own, .la the clouJs III our atmosphere have
a m,tticn 0: translation over different Eurte Of
the car1h'= surface wEile she turns on her AXIS
1 Yes Th, suu is travelling through space,
but
We do not know with what velocity 1t is
n,e,ah!v not less than tive miles, nor more than
.his,y miles, PER second.
j, 6. lnd !. do Hnl hnbW- Nearly all that
r,n he SAID tu the suticct with Ccffrfnfu is that
I'VE krow tie direction Of IL straight line which
,rnrly comrades With the prcsen. direction Of
.be sim 1.oiiou.'' The dtstauce through which
re sun has Travelled since this movement was
irs. observed may hc compared to the length Of
:, ,isrrai.5t, sewing needle: which, SO fur rs the
,na;icd eye coull determine, coinrides equally
IS we'll with 'pa:t nfl the circumference Of Il
s:clc sha; is 1ni't' i'll diameter Us it dues with
1ra,rh, line. II has been guessed that the suu
uoyes III closed orbit. the centre Of which is
he star -alcyon.; hut there IS nu good reason
70 obclitye that this Is even uu uuprux x1nution to
he 1rutb, On the contrary. the probabilities
ire that the path IL not closed orbit, and that
there is lo ulic star, or even group Of stars,
aruund which our sun Is moving. i long time
ago the astronomer Of THE TH1prSE wrote as
follows on this subject:
The sun is Undoubtedly moving in the pres
eEt direction OF the Constellation. Hercules. rs
III: iullr since deeuIcd probable, but it may be
cwlrC to tae ATTRACTIONS ol many stars. und not
10 :ils, IL ATTY QUE orb. 4 little calculation is
sli.1c:ent ~ s!low that star III the d4stullce Of
Sirius could net uun the solar system through
Srart. the rate of .ssy' five miles per scco.d.
Hl1houl con1a'r.ng su,ne ninety thousand times
as much matter MS NEr sun. In that case the
suaia..es Indicate that the star would te ut
least three hundred times Us bright an Onicct us
Sirius Is now. the latter bt'tng. to U.s. much tho
brightest Of ii! the stars The difficulty does not
C-w much fr>s ii we suppose the cvi,-
ual sun 10 ht further OFT Or nearer
to US THAI IS TINT star. The motion nf tho sun
IN space is, therefore. in uii probability the re-
sui1 Of rho ATTRACTIVE fur1ps cAer1ed by II great
uu1ottr nt stars; und. II this be the direction
a wcIt rs velocity Of the movement is continu-
s1!y chnts:nE with the varying distances Of the
san trum the other co.ppunents i'll the grand
sretein- Following out this train nf reasoning
II its legitimate conclusion. shall ind it dill
c;l; II nctvc it posS3t't. that the is moving
in closed orb!t around any particular point III
the solar system. like ii family OF Wandering
Jrw-. is rmmny hlther and thither through the
rastness IF space and that not eighteen tuiions
u yGar> rCt sn eternity Of nEcs 1uay rIapse
without one crcllit having been completed"