Deseret evening news. [volume] (Great Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1867-1920, 1892-02-26


IL IL generally thought by Astron-
omofs today that all the celestial
phenomena within the reach Of human
vision belong ~ single great systom;
but IL ~ not yet possible 10 say just
what tue controlling order In the mo.
tons OF the stars composing the visible
universe Ia. Observation shows that
all the stars are Ia motion, hut with
varying veiocities, and in all possible
directions. Ia tho same quarter Of
the sky, nud even In comparatively
crowded aggrtgatlons NJ stars, some
ae found to be moving Ia one
direction and some In another. In
the case Of the well.known figure
Of the Great Dipper, for instance,
the motions OF the stars are such
that In the course Of some thousands
Of year, thAt figure will cease u
be remarked In the sky. Many of
IT. stars viii have separated, going
In several directions, although some
Of them viii continue 10 keep company,
M their Journey lies the same way ia
space. so, too, some Of the stars are
approaching US aud some are rccediug
from ". The spcc,r0suOpe, aided by
photography, enables astronomers to
measure the velocity Of these dying
sulN that are either coming nearer to
US or passing further from us. with an
accuracy that takes account u a single
mile per second. The sun l. not ex-
smpt from this uuivasHl law Of
motion. IL Il speeding al the rate Of
several hundred millions OF miles Ia
year towards point In tle northern
heavens situated not lar from the bril-.
liant star Vega, n sun that IA vastly
more lumiuou. than our own. 10 We
ON the earth are not travelling, as most
petsDus Imagine, In a beaten track
around the sun year after year, but the
earth follows the tun In it, nOr,hward
pointed cOurse, anu consequently
sweeps onward In vast spirals around
the moving sun, 80 that We arc cOntin.
ually borne Into new regions Of space.
The extension OF tue Law OF giRvita.
ton throughout the universe has been
questioned, but mover worry seriously,
and every irrsh investigation OF stellar
motion strengthens the belief that that
law really governs the whole visible
celestial system. In the case OF the
binary stafs, Of which great number
are known, the revolution Of the two
stars around one another or around
their common center, evidently takes
place In obedience 10 that law. Now,
II gravitItlOn extends throughout the
universe, no star can escape from the
attractive influence Of every other star,
and Of all the other stars. So gravita.
ton In Itself forms, n II were, n system
OF links or chains binding the stellar
sys,em together. More than once 1t
has been imagined that the great cen.
ter OF motion in the universe bad been
discovered or located. Many years ago
Nader thought that the Pleiades were
the centre around which our sun
was moving, and tho beautiful
star Alcyone became widely celc-
brat.d ~ the great central sun.
But II was all Imagination. Later In
yustiga,.on showed that Nader was
mistaken, aud now astronomers are
not even prepared 10 say ia what dircc-
ton the centre Of the sun's motion lies,
or, indeed, whether u is not at present
actually dying ahead in n straight line.
The fact Stems TO be, that there are
many centres OF motion, ~ the ten
dOncy OF the stars 10 aggregate Ia
streams and clusters Indicates, but the
precise relation OF these nggregatlons
TO one another has not yet been made
out.
The very variety which we behold In
tue universe shows 70 clearly the Oper-
alton OF systematic forces OF develop.
ment that 1t serves as au argument
In favor OF the view that all we see
nrc only different parts Of single
system. Elements that exist in the
earth are detected glowing In the
atmosphere Of stars In all quarters,
hut the same instrument which
reveals the prrseroe OF these elements,
discovers also the iact that the bodies
constituted Of them are In various
stages OF development. Our sun re-.
presents only one type Of solar body,
nnl lis condition IL not permanent and
Interchangeable. In Sirius aud vega we
behold suns which are evidently glow.
Ing with far nurcor energy and u
much greater intensity Of radiation
than our sun exhibits At present. But
we may go IA step further back than
that which Sirius or any star repre-
senls, and perceive in the whiring
spirnls OF tine Andromeda ncbuia, anu
IN the vast streams and cOniensing
aggrcgatiops OF thr Orion nebuln, evi.
dences of the formation OF stellar cen
tiers out Of elemental chaotic clouds
through process that Is going on now,
and, 10 10 speak, under our eyes. II ~
inioed living universe which in.
cluies the earth that We inhabit.--
AeW York Sun.