Barbour County index. [volume] (Medicine Lodge, Kan.) 1880-current, 1883-10-26
IMPROBABLE, But NOT IMPOSSI.
re-Has HIE

snrfulnT far -
The Danger of one Planet or star CoIIId-
wit Another what Would Happen
the Earth -hould Hun Into Another
WorId-W Wonderful star. whose Illase
Nay Have Iiacn Csuscd by ColIision-Ilt-
oeDsnger from Coraefs.
The universe 0t SINCE /. m ono sense.
t'at ondcrowdsd. Everywhere our tels
etenpes Ind stars; an fpr every one
We-scc there are probably hundreds. and
even thousands, too faint or small or
mI away 70 rrach our senses. Aad OF
teas ., .an.inss 'lIosto 81 wgTlds nOt one 4
ae.ss@t. pm ai 'Hre rushing through
space, frcc and unbri,llcd. with volnti-
tics far exceeding ANYTHING On tho ranr,
Ot our terrestrial cNpcrion,.s. Our s-,ft
est cannon shot takes nnora. than thr.o
scconds Ia Ro ~ nilc, lat the stars and
planets solstDm move slower than five
miles n srcond, andgeOmo .of them uo
two hundnid Tho vofiest Nautf Wrno5.,
thonl'vOhld overhaul Z ride b,lll I'm The
ssme SORT N way that the ride hall
would pvcrtlkc rcccding freight train.
IL there not. them dangcrd collisionsp
llnyc suelt collisions ever ,,c.urro,I- au,I
ifso, NTH what cons siiicncts5 u -
Now, In the first place. II il only in N
sense, and rather a Pickwickian one
thai space can be call 81 orowIcd. Trur'
stars are ~ be- seen in every .direelion.
uut uus lS,pgennse our vision reaches so
uilmaginably FAR. II We restrict our
Hggation ~ torlics % respectable
magnitudc a-hundrcl milcs in liam.
ctcr. Tor Instance we rOusht ruthrr 10
say That space. instead ~ being crnwd-
EFT - U'niost incohcc ,RRblycmpty. 49,
tween any st-c or planet and is nearest
frighoor lic usually dcsolato distances
0tmiLhonS, or cvUn millions Of millions.
az InilosNl IL we assume. what Il prob
uply nv underestimate. that the region
commanded by our TELESCOPES As so vast
uat light lAkSs a thousand years In
coming W US from It's outer confines.
and fnrtherr that Che nunibcr Of IA
stars Is a thousand mill ms Che num-
Der visible with our largest telescopes
- usually estimated nj about sixty
mahonsl, then we ilnd that the
Averages distance from star To
slar must be about nine millions
omilliohs of miles. TAi' Is not quite
hall the actual distance from the sun to
our nearest stellar ncighbor 90 Ccutau-
~, according To the received value of
us,parallax; but il is a distance which
q1ito-deti the power of human com
Prchension. ~ two stars mt such n dis.
lance wcrc rushing straight toward
each other with speed Of ten miles n
second. u would require nearly thirty
thousand years 10 bring Thorn together.
Neprusent the sun. ~ in Sir John Her.
schcIs familiar Illustration, by globe
two feet IN diameter. So that oranges.
cherries. peas and pins heads would
stand for the different planets at dis-
tancos ranging frOm eighty feet to two
miles, then. On that scale. "a Ccntauri
would be eight Thousand miles away.
obviously. there j. plenty of elbow room
IN the universe, and the chance of two
stars accidentally jOstling each other is
Tar less than that ~ the collision of two
bullets in mid-air over % battlefield.
Still the possibility remains.
There i prevalent impression that
the immunity from collision between
the heavenly bodic. depends mainly ON
their being held in ORDERLY orbits by,
central attraction; and " II true TINT
their Orbital cun~trantS make il uuite
impossible Tor the planets to collide
with each other. or even to annroo,b
each other WY stpscly. But = vvr,r
Impressive picture j. sometimes drawn
of what would happen U tho earth. Tor
instance, should sumCtihir FRYE hc.self
from the bonts oi grlsita,inn -.-hp.., ~,
would IN of into space (Which Il tf1ic
ot cgursg), and soon dash herself 10
pioces deaiust some other wahdrrfnO
world (Which j. not true nj all pf
nt least not prpbab,gl. Most Hkclv.-tf
gravitation were suddcnlv O. cease lin,
earth would travel for millions. not Of
years, but ~ ages, without eyer en-.
countcring anything morc importint
than mcteprS, such ~ ARE now cont n
ually failing upon her aufAre. And
thcse tncteoric encuuut 'rs even. WOULD
probably be- far less frequent than nj
present, since there is rrason IN supuo.a
thatfNuch bodies arm much moro nm
ructQus In tho ncixhborhood Of the ann
alstof 0thcrgrSat stars than IN the rest
OF space t.l
Evidently. however. the Attractions
between wandfdng star and others
lying near It's path must consideral IN
increase the chances ol collision. though
not toso grcat an extent as perhaps
mtg'u ~ supposed A body entering
our system a. n distance from the sum
one hundred times ~ great ~ thu
radius OF tho earths orbit. aud moving
with mo- more tinn the velocity natural
to comet ~ that distance (about ~
miles per SECONDLY, would not Strike tho
sun unless It's path were directed Within
less than half degrcs (2s.l scc1 eof
the suns center; and II It's velocity
were greater. the aim would have to be-
still moro acc,ira,e 70 scorc hit. n
h,y,lics wcrc shot into space at raud,ym
noln rhc position and with the velocity.
indicated. only about Quo I'M e'rhtv.six
thQuSand would hit The sun WOE N
not Tor the suns attraction. however.
the proportion would be twenty thou
sand times smaller stu only one in
seventeen hundrrd millions.
IL NobviOus. therefore. that cncouut-
crs'between heavenly Nod - " consider
able magnitude must ~ extremely rare.
Th0re. % not In all the astronomical
record n single certain instance of such
~ Vccurrencc. And yet IL may cont
IDENTIFY be asserted that some time or
Qtlrcr In the past such events must have
happcncd. md some time In the future
will happen again, simply for the rea-
son that. In n sufficient length of time
The most improbable things, II only not
Impossible. are SURE 20 come 10 pas.
noss,rit itlalnusi certain that the stellar
motious arc not such as To render col
1isioDf Impossible :ibc planets. Il Is true.
a. ms been said before, can never run
INTO eScb other bccaase Of the size and
nature of their orbits, but, So far rs can
now be asI crtaincd. nothing of the sort
holds good for the motions of the stars.
knnlnnady know. enough about some
oftheir so-called proper motions" TO
tpyqpite sure that, as . fact. they are not
tksSehna in nav fuple curves around
1hy fonm0d cef tAr, and also that some
stars are flying through space with such
vclocities that no attraction. such as can
rea sonably' be supposed W act in the
premises. cAn control them. Nor does
theory. any more than observation. in
tE ,,ggslefe I, Of The, The stellar &c ., universe