Elmore bulletin. [volume] (Rocky Bar, Idaho) 1889-1906, 1890-06-07
THE GIANT sun.
Tremendous Size and Power OF
Sirius, the Dog-Star.
His light Exceeds That of Our sun.
whose Diameter IL Hut One-ssv-
enteenth of his, Nearly Five
Thousand Times.


To those unaequainted with the mar.
wells Of astronomy the above title may
appear a little strange. For surely our
sun must be considered giant, giant
IA size, as Sir John llerschel says, and
giant in strength. but withal bcnevo.
lent giant, being the almoner Of the AL.
mighty, the delegated dispenser to us OF
light and warmth. the immediate source
of all our comforts, and indeed OF the
very possibility OF our existence" Is
there, then. any orb in the heavens sm.
perior 20 our sun. and more worthy 70
be styled a giant?
lu'comparlng things on earth. we look
upon this our planet as q giant, relative
To the size Of any thing terrestrial; our
highest mountains, cur 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 IL 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.
nificance compared with the suns mag
nihccnt globe; thousand .Iupiters
would not make up the volume OF the
sun nor outweigh his mighty mass To
speak Of any other orb as being a giant
sun, would seem TO imply that there ex-
ists IN the universe globe bearing some
such proportion To the sun as the sun
does TO Jupiter, or Jupiter does to our
earth. uncomfortable as tho idea of
such globe may DO, IL Is, however,
such globe that now wish 20 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 uncomfortable as
are the forces exerted by the sun upon
the orbs which circle round him, there
Is sun which cxerts forces many times
more mighty on 0rbs which themselves
probably exceed our sun in mass and
volume. Magnificent as Is the concep-
tion that our sun with its attendant fam.
lily OF planets is sweeping through space
ut rate Of two or three hundred miles
every minute, the sun OF which sneak
carries far mightier train through
space at rate many times greater"
Look towards the south any clear night
during the winter months, and you will
see, low down, a star which will imme-
diately arrest your attention, not only
by its superior brightness. but also by
It's constant change OF color. at one mo-
ment red, at another green. al another
white This is Sirius. the famous Dog
Af In Naf.s - L ~
star in the heavens and the largest
known orb In the universe. II Is diin-
cult to conceive that this beautiful star
Is globe much larger than our sun: vet
1t is fact that Sirius is sun many
more times mightior than our own. That
splendid star, which even i'm our most
powerful telescopes appears "a a mere
point of light, is in reality a globe emit
ting so enormous quantity OF light and
heat, that were IL 10 take the place of
our sun. every creature on this earth
would be consumed by its burning rays.
Sirius shining with greater lustor
than any other star. 10 was natural that
astronomers should have regarded this
as being the nearest Of all the fixed
stars; but recent investigation on tho
distances OF the stars has shown that
TIE nearest TO us Is the Alpha Centauri.
star belonging TO the southern !ati-
tudes, though it is probable that Sirius
Is about fourth on the list in order of
distance. For though there are about
fifteen or twenty stars whose distances
have been conioctured. tho astronomer
knows that in reality all OF them. save
three or four, lie at distances too great
10 be measured by any Instruments wa
have at present Astronomers agree in
haing the distance of the nearest star
at twenty-two million of millions OF miles;
and II is certain that the distance OF
Sirius is more than three and less than
ak times that of Alpha Centauri. most
likely about five times; so thar We are
probably not far from the truth if we
set the distance of Sirius at about n
hundred million Of millions Of miles.
What a vast distance is this which sepa.
rates us from that bright star: words
and figures OF themselves fail to convey
TO our minds any adequate idea of its
true character.
To take a common example OF illus
trating such enormous distances: Ii Is
calculated that the bali from an Arm.
strong hundred-ponnder quits the gun
with a speed Of about four hundred
yards per second; now, II this velocity
could be kept np, It would require no
fewer than ten million years before the
ball could reach Sirius. Again take
the swiftest form Of velocity ~ which
We have any knowledge. light, which
at tho rate Of nearly two hun.
fred thousand miles per second. or about
twelve million miles a minute. vet tho
distance Of Sirius is so vast that II takes
nearly twenty years for its light III
reach rs; SO that II Sirius was suddenly
% become extinct. se should not b. 4,
painted with the fact till twenty years
renee.
Now, the work the astronomer has 10
70 In order to calculate these distances ,
5 one OF the greatest problems he has ,
o solve, and the manner Of his inyesti. !
alton may not be out of place. BY way !
I illustration, take a room having two ,
findoYs locking in the same direction; :
ow stand at one window and select a j
aFialH object, say a tree. and notice tho /
asitlon in which il stands in relation :
} It's surroundings; then look from the /
her window at the same object, and )
on will find that its surroundings have a
'ghtly ehangeii they have apparently