Alexandria gazette. [volume] (Alexandria, D.C.) 1834-1974, 1883-01-01
THE SOLAR SYSTEM.

AGL QUINN 01O2EM.
There are very few vague conceptions en-
tcrtaincd in respect to the motions of the
earth through space Everybody Of ordi-
nary education knows that the earth re-
wolves on its axis once in twenty-iour hours,
and rotates around'the sun once every year;
yet very few comprehend the really stu
pendous nature Of the motions here in
volved. five stroll along the street at the
rate of Il step per second, it may seem like
slow progress, and yet the speed of the
famous sevcn-league boots hardly surpassed
the rate at which we are really going. For
every such step really takes us eighteen
miles forward in space. Between the lift
and fall of the foot, we shoot forward this
great distance, and, in ordinary breathing,
each successive breath is taken fifty miles
away from the locally ofthe last. Finally, in
the short period in which the second hand
OF 4 watch completes one revolution. and
marks minute gone, we dart eleven hun
dred miles through space, so that distance
equal TO the noted tour of the earth in
eighty days" is travelled by every one of Us
IN every tWcnty-three minutes of our lives
ms thus barely presented, seems incredi-
Bile, yet it declares nothing more than is in
Volved Ill the annual revolution Of the earth
around the sun. We are. in reality, shoot
ing constantly in three separate direc.
tlonS through space, at speeds TO which
that OF the cannon ball is but Il
snalls pace. In one direction, we are
moving forward at Il rate of sixteen
miles per minute. In second direction, we
Ear surpass this speed, and dart forward
three hundred miles per minute. But the
third line OF motion is at the extraordinary
rapdity above mentioned, of eleven hun
dred miles per minute. And yet the rail
road train which bears us at this rate
through space moves with such utter
smoothncss that we find itimpossiblc it to re-
aIizc that there has been any change of
place. The first Of these motious is that of
the earth on its axis The second is that
OF the movement of the whole solar system
through space, towards the fixed stars.
The third is that Of the revolution Of the
earth around the sun, which carries us on
ward nearly six hundred millions of miles
every year. 1t must be remembered. how
ever, that our realization of motion depends
upon two things, the degree of roughncss of
transit, and the seemingly reverse motion
OF the objects we pass in our journey. II 4
railroad train could be made 10 run with
perfect smoothness. we could discover our
motion only by the seeming reverse motion
of trees hills and houses which wc pass.
such Is the case with the motion Of of the
earth. 1t is too smooth to be directly dis
covcrablc. and can only he traced through
The apparently reverse motions ofthe sur
rounding spheres. 70 one travelling in Il
balloon, or in smooth-gliding ship, il seems
to be the earth that is real Y moving, and it
took men long ages to discover that ii was
not The stars that were moving around q
molonIcss earth. 1t was only when they
came TO realize the distances ofthcsc stars,
and their sizes as compared with the earth,
that it became absurd to believe thai The
mlIllltudcS OF mighty suns which stud the
heavens were daily trOoping around this
little spot of matter as their centre. and tllat
our great solar sphere was revolving, like an
obcd!ent slave, around one Of the smallest
of its planets The idea once gained that it
was the earth TO whose real motion all these
seeming motions were due the question be-
came immensely simplilied. The trees.
rocks and habltations were apparently dart
ing backward. merely because we were
darting forward. and by tracing their APP
parent motions the speed and direction of
| our real motion became evident. The earth
traverscs but n narrow line ofspacc, yet the
line is crossed by vast mulLitudes OF meteo-
ric bodies, so numerous that Professor New
comb estimates those which enter the earth's
atmosphere ut four hundred millions
every twcnty-four hours. How thickly
then must space be peopled with matter !:
and yet each such minor mass has 4 broad
field of free space in which to move. These
mctcorlc bodies, moving at very rapid
speed, inccssantly lombard the earth But
for the safety cushion Of the atmosphere, no
| life could exist for the pistol and cannon
balls ofthe heavens would constantly rain
upon the earth's surface, in such numbers
that no living thing could escape them
Fortunately, but few of them are able to
penetrate the air. Their rapid motion cau-
ses an intense friction, great heat is evolved,
a flash OF light breaks out upon the sky. and
the overheated mass is consumed, its ashes
| gradually settling down to the earth as cos
mic dust. Occasionally larger mass cs-
capes this fate, and plunges upon the earth.
with only its outer coating singed in its pas
sage through the air. Strangely enough.
VIC find these masses to be composed only
of materials similar to those Of the earth's
surface. iron being their principal substance
These visitants yield us interesting glimpses
of the constitution of the universe, their sto.
ry being in strict accordance with that more
recently told by Spectrum Analysis. BY
whose aid we are able to discover the com
position Of the most distant visible sun.
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