The Mason County journal. [volume] (Shelton, W.T.) 1886-1927, 1890-04-25
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.

To those unacquainted with the mar
wells of astronomy the above title may
appear little strange. For surely our
sun must be considered a giant. ''giant
in SIZE" as Sir John Herschel says, land
giant 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 all 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 more worthy to
be styled giant?
In comparing things on earth, we look
upon this our planet as giant, relative
to the size of any thing terrestrial; our
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
a subordinate sun to his system of sat
elites. This globe is hundreds of times
larger than our world, and it's mass even
exceeds the combined mass of all the
other planets. Yet vast as is the bulk
of Jupiter he seems dwarfed into insig-
niticance compared with the suns mag
nlficent 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. 1nconceivable as the idea of
such globe may be, it is, however,
such 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 a 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 its attendant fam
lily OF planets is sweeping through space
at rate of two or three hundred miles
every minute, the sun of which / speak
carries a 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, star which will imme-
diately arrest your attention, not only
by its superior brightness, but also by
its constant change of color, at one mo-
ment red, at another green. at another
white. This is Sirius, the famous Dog
star OF the anclentS, the most brilliant
star In the heavens and the largest
known orb in the universe. 1t is diff
cult to conceive that this beautiful star
is globe much larger than our sun; yet
1t is fact that Sirius is 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
heat, 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
than any other star, it was natural that
astronomers should have regarded this
stars: but recent investigation on the
distances of the stars has shown that
tie nearest to us is the Alpha Centauri,
a star belonging to the southern lati-
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 Deen conjectured, the astronomer
knows that in reality all of them, save
three or four, lie. at distances too great
to be measured by any instruments we
have at present. Astronomers agree in
fixing the distance of the nearest star
attwenty-twom million of millions of miles:
and it is certain that the distance of
Sirius is more than three and less than
six times that of Alpha Centauri, most
likely about five times; so that we are
probably not far from the truth if we
set the distance of Sirius at about a
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.
trating such enormous distances: 1t is
calculated that the ball from an Arm
strong hundred-pounder quits the gun
with speed of about four hundred
yards per second; now, if this velocity
could be kept up, it would require no
fewer than ten million years before the
ball could reach Sirius! Again. take
the swiftest form of velocity of which
we have any knowledge, light, which
travels at the rate OF nearly two hun
dred thousand miles per second, or about
twelve million miles minute, yet the
distance of Sirius is so vast that it takes
nearly twenty years for its light tc
reach US; so that if Sirius was suddenly
TO become extinct. we should not he az.
Quainted with the fact till twenty years
hence.
Now, the work the astronomer has to
do in order to calculate these distances
is one of the greatest problems he has
to solve, and the manner of his inveSti-
cation may not be out of place. By way
of illustration, take room having two
windows looking in the same direction;
now stand at one window and select
certain object, say tree, and notice the
position in which it stands in relation
to its surroundings; then look from the
other window at the same object, and
you will find that its surroundings have
slightly changed; they have apparently