Pittsburg dispatch. [volume] (Pittsburg [Pa.]) 1880-1923, 1891-11-09
CLUSTERS OF STARS.
What the Famous Lick Telescope Has Re
Gently Discovered - Wonders OF the
Nebula Groups-Discoveries Never Made
Before by Even the Most Powerful In

Hercules, where Messier declared he saw no
star, is one mass of separate individual
points The central glow of nebulosity is
thoroughly separated into points" and by
SO saying he gave that telescope the very
highest praise Now, it may be asked. says
the San Francisco Chronicle, why should it
be so wonderful that the great telescope
should separate the stars in that cluster,
and what is star cluster, and are star clus-
ters of any special Importance? All these
questions, and others related thereto, VIC
are going to consider.
The.stars as seen with .he telescope, that
to the number of several millions Despangie
the sky are not scattered unifo; mly. We
see that while some regions are compara-
lively bare of stars others contain stars IN
profusion. Sometimes we have small
group like the Pleiades; sometimes we have
a stupendous region of the heavens strewn
over with stars. as in the Milky way. sucn
objects are called star clusters. We hnd
every variety in the clusters. Sometimes
the stars are remarkable for their brilliancy,
sometimes for their enormous numbers, and
sometimes for the remarkable form in which
they are grouped. Sometimes star cluster
is adorned with brilliantly colored stars;
sometimes the stars are so close togetner
that their separate rays cannot be dlstin-
guished sometimes the stars are so minute
or so distant that the cluster is barely dis
tinguishable from the nebula.
Hercules Is the Finest of All.
Of all these clusters, the finest visible in
the Northern hemisphere is the cluster in
Hercules, to which Prof. Holden referred.
This cluster is an extension and magnificent
mass of stars, with the most compressed
part densely compacted and wedged to-
gether under unknown laws of aggregation.
Our understanding strives in vain to answer
tho inquiry, what is the object of these
thousand on thousand suns? The mere as
pect of this extensive aggregation is indeed
enough to make the mind shrink with
sense of the insigniflcance OF our little
world
In the great Lick telescope certain star
clusters exhibit an aspect such as man be-
fore had never seen, and which for magnif-
cence battles all description. One of its
greatest achievements in this direction 1s
the separation of the densest portion of this
cluster into separate stars. 1t is a circum-
stance to be sincerely regretted that visitors
to the Lick Observatory are not shown this
object with an eyepiece which will exhibit
the whole of it. Seen in its entirety with
that telescope, there can be no doubt but
that it would present the most glorious tel
escopic object ever beheld. Furthermore,
Professor Holden ordered made, st consid-
cradle expense, power expressly suitable
for this sort Of work. But his assistants
have SO far neglected to go to the trouble of
putting it in, and visitors consequently do
their looking with an eyepiece which
only shows the central part Of the object,
and with which most Of its beauty van
ishes.
about one-fourth the moons diameter. Even
with a siX-inch telescope it Is not to be de-
spised by any manner of means; indeed, it Is
the most beautiful object visible here with
such glass.
Globular Forms in the Heavens.
Most of the telescope clusters appear to
be arranged in globular form, thus causing
the cluster to appear very dense and bright
in the center thinning out gradually to the
edge. Fifty or go years ago it was thought
that all the stars in a cluster were suns as
large as or larger than our own sun, and
dwarfed into insignificance by distance. To-
day the views Of astronomers have changed.
The late Mr.. Proctor was of opinion that the
cluster in Hercules does not exceed in mass
that of an average first-magnitude star.
This is rather an extreme view in the op-
posite direction. 1t was also thought go
years ago that nebulae, like the great nebula
In Orion, were nothing but star clusters seen
at such an immense distance that our largest
telescopes failed to separate the stars. 1t
was expected that Lord Ross's six-foot re-
fector would be successful in resolving
these, and it was even stated at one time,
though entirely without foundation, that it
had resolved the Orion nebula. But this
cope. With that instrument we are now
able to analyze the light coming from body
If this sort, and tell at once whether it Is a
nebula or star cluster. For instance, the So
called nebula in Andromeda has long been
proved by the spectroscope to be star
cluster, though no telescope can see it as
such. 1t is possible to see certain slight
granular appearance in the central part Of
The nebula under very favorable circum-
and the writer once made it out
with nothing more than a six-inch telescope.
Specimens OF Coarse Clusters.
As specimens of rather coarse clusters,
the two principal star clusters in Perseus
may be mentioned. They are easily visible
TO the naked eye, below the back of the
chair and on line drawn at right angles to
The middle of it, appearing like bright
,pot in the Milky Way. The globular
does not seem to have been
follow ed here. but still they are exceedingly
inc, especially for a six or eight-inch tele-
scope Admiral smyth says that they
afford together one of the most brilliant
objects in the heavens"
But the finest star clusters are in the |
southern hemisphere, which indeed seems |
20 be blessed with much finer assortment |
If telescope objects that the northern hemi- |
sphere can boast, and really is the place for |
,ne of the great telescopes, like the Lick, |
With which the northern hemisphere is |
crowded. The star cluster around the star |
Koppe Crucis was described by Sir John |
Herschel as one OF the most beautiful OBJ |
ects of it's class. 1t consists of about ITO |
stars from the seventh magnitude down. |
ward, eight Of the more conspicuous of |
hem being colored various shades Of red, |
yreen and blue. OF the cluster forty-seven |
roncain he says: ut is a most glorious |
,lobular cluster, the stars of the fourteenth |
immensely numerous. 1t is COM !
pressed to blaze of light at the center, the /
iiameter of the most compressed part being |
70 seconds in right ascension" The whole |
liameter of the cluster in Hercules is |
scarcely more than that.
Picturesque Effect of the Pleiades.
So much for star clusters in the Southern |
hemisphere. But while we cannot equal |
uch wonderful objects here many very fine |
mes remain; in fact, it would be possible to
pend an entire night viewing clusters and |
till leave some interesting ones unnoticed.
The Pleiades offer a very fine telescope
picture in a six-inch telescope, provided the
yepiece used can take the whole of the
.roup into its field. The six-and-a-halfinch
elescope at the Lick Observatory has such
n eyepiece, and any one who visits there
nd can gain permission to look at them
With that glass will be sure of a treat.
The star cluster in Hercules is still above
he horizon in the early evening, and any
-isitor to the students observatory at
which is open to the public on the
econd and fourth Mondays of each month,
would no doubt be shown it if he made
pecial request to that effect, though, OF
curse, nothing very wonderful could be ex-
'ected from that instrument. Still, it is
lways advisable to go and look for oneself
lone but an eyewitness of the wonder and
lory of the heavens can thoroughly under
tand how much they lose by description, or
ow inadequate an idea of them can be
athered in the usual mode from books and
,ctures 1t is but the narrative of the
raveler instead of the direct impression OF
he scene.