The Bossier banner. [volume] (Bellevue, Bossier Parish, La.) 1859-1952, 1890-05-15
THE GIANT SUN.
Tremendous Size and Power Of
Sirius, the Dog-Star.
His Light Exceeds That of Our Sun,
Whose Diameter Is But One-Sev-
enteenth of His, Nearly Five
Thousand Times.

II
yels Of astronomy the above title may |
appear a little strange. For surely our
sun must be considered a giant, giant |
in size, /" as Sir John Herschel says, "and |
giaut in strength, but withal benevo-
lent giant being the almoner of the Al
mighty, the delegated dispenser to US of
light and warmth, the immediate source
Of ali our comforts, and indeed of the
very possibility of our existence" Is
there, then, any orb in the heavens su-
perior to our sun, and morS worthy to
be styled a giant?
In comparing things on earth, we look
upon this our planet as giant, relative
to the size of any thing terrestrial; or
highest mountains, our deepest oceans,
are but specks compared with the huge
mass of the earth. Then look at Jupi-
ter, the noblest of the planets, acting as
subordinate sun to his system of sat
elites. This globe is hundreds of times
larger than our world, and its mass even
exceeds the combined mass of all the
other planets. Yet vast as is the bulk
Of Jupiter, he seems dwarfed into insig-
nifcance compared with the suns mag
nifcent globe; a thousand Jupiters
would not make up the volume of the
sun nor outweigh his mighty mass. To
speak of any other orb as being giant
sun, would seem to imply that there ex-
lists in the universe globe bearing some
such proportion to the sun as the sun
does to Jupiter, or Jupiter does to our
earth. Inconceivable as the idea of
such globe may be, it is, however,
such a globe that l now wish to de-
scribe. As the late Richard Proctor said;
Mighty as is the globe of the sun,
there is an orb more than thousand
times vaster. Grand as is the scheme
ruled by the sun, and inconceivable as
are the forces exerted by the sun upon
the orbS which circle round him. there
is sun which exerts forces many times
more mighty on orbs which themselves
probably exceed our sun in mass and
volume. Magnificent as is the concep-
ton that our sun with it's attendant FAM
hy Of planets is sweeping through space
at rate Of two or three hundred miles
every minute, tho sun of which speak
carries far mightier train through
space at rate many times greater. ;"
LOOK towards the south any clear night
curing the winter months, and you will
see, low down, star which will imme-
dlately arrest your attention, not only
oy Its superior brightness, but also by
us constant change of color, at one mo-
meut red, at another green, at another
white. This is Sirius, the famous Dog
star OF the ancients, the most brilliant
s'ar In the heavens and the largest
Known orb in the universe. 1t is diff
cult to conceive that this beautiful star
s globe much larger than our sun; yet
IS fact that Sirius is a sun many
more times mightier than our own. That
splendid star, which even in our most
powerful telescopes appears as mere
point OF light, is in reality globe emit
ting so enormous quantity of light and
neat, that were it to take the place of
our sun, every creature on this earth
would be consumed by its burning rays.
Sirius shining with greater luster
snan any other star, it was natural that
sssfonomers should have regarded this
y being the nearest of all the fixed
seaFsi but recent investigation on the
Instances of the stars has shown that
me nearest to us is the Alpha Centauri,
star belonging to the southern lati-
s''aes, though it is probable that Sirius
Y about fourth on tho list in order oi
Instance. For though there are about
aIseen or twenty stars whose distances
nave been .onjectured, the astronomer
SHOWS that in reality all of them, save
snfee or four, lie at distances too great
. oe measured by any instruments we
aaVe at present Astronomers agree in
aAlng tho distance of the nearest stal
asswenty-two million of millions of miles
Sao 1t is certain that the distance o
SIRIUS is more than three and less thar
~ times that of Alpha Centauri, mos
ASeiy about five times; SO that we are
psonably not far from the truth if WI
- the distance of Sirius at about ;
hundred million of millions of miles
nat vast distance is this which sepa
sAees as from that bright star; word
saa ngures of themselves fail to conve,
cur minds any adequate idea OF it
we character.
e sske . common examule Of illus