River Falls journal. [volume] (River Falls, Pierce County, Wis.) 1872-2019, 1894-01-04
POOR ouEssEs AT DISTANCE.


betWeen tine STARS
OF the hundred million or more stars
which are visible with astronomical
instruments. the distances from the
earth of only very few have been
measured with even an approximate
to accuracy. Most of the stars appear
to be so far away that the change in
their apparent place caused by viewing
them from opposite sides of the earth's
orbit-and that orbit is about one hum
dred and eighty-six million miles across
lis so slight that it esca pes certain de.
lection. Only about fifty stars have
thus far yielded definite results in the
attempt to measure their distances, and
even those results are too often exceed
ingly conflicting and uncertain. The
nearest star thus far discovered is one
of the first magnitude, not visible from
the United States or Europe. 1t is the
star called Alpha in the constellation
of the Centaur in the southern henri
sphere of the heavens.
The distance of this star appears to
be something like twenty trillions of
miles, or about two hundred and fif-
teen thousand times as great as the dis
lance of the sun from the earth.
The next nearest star. as far as
known. is little sixth-magnitude
twinkler barely visible to the naked
eye, in the constellation of Cygnus,
popularity called the Northern Cross.
The distance of this star, which is
known 10 astronomers as sixtv-oue
Cvgri, is variously estimated at from
forty to sixty trillion miles, or two or
three times that of the bright star in
the Centaur.
The brightness OF the stars, as we
see them, is, then, no measure of their
comparative distance. A very bright
star may be much more distant than a
very faint one, the difference in brill
lance being due to the greater magni-
/ tude of the more distant star. Sirius,
or the dog-star, for instance, which
scintillates so splendidly in the winter
sky, is more distant than the little star
sixty-one Cygni. the latter being ir
fact a very much smaller sun thar
ours, while Sirius is a far larger one.
1t thus appears that while the efforts
to measure the distances Of the stars
have not been very successful, yet they
have resulted in giving MS a wonder
full insight into the arrangements of the
univ, rise of suns in the midst of which
we dwell. They have proved that
large stars and small stars are scat
tered through space at various dis
tances from one another and from us
that the dimensions of the blazing
bodies which we call stars, or suns
vary to an enormous extent, and thai
our own sun, great, glorious and oves
towering as it seems to us, really be
longs to quite inferior rank.
But it is possible that before many
years our knowledge of the distances
of the stars may be greatly extended.
Spectroscopic investigation in the case
of binary stars, as those are called
which circle in pairs around their com
mon center of gravity, is beginning to
help US a little in this direction.
Recently, for instance, Mr. G.. w.
COLES, Jr., has calculated, from the re-
suits of such investigations, the mean
distance of ninety-five stars situated
in the northern hemisphere of the
heavens, and he finds it equal to the
distance which light would travel in
about one hundred and fifty years.
That distance is not less than eight
nunureu anu seventy JTlillOn mites, Of
more than forty-three times as great as
the distance of the nearest known star,
Alpha Centauri.
Yet enormous as such a distance is,
il is nearly certain that the average
distance of all the stars composing the
visible universe is still greater. And
here and thera ne starry heavens,
even in tho richest regions, present
black and apparently empty spaces
through which we seem to look out
from the bounds of the visible universe
into fathomless depths beyond.
But as there any thoughtful mind
which can avoid asking itself the ques-
ton: What lies beyond? When we
come to the outermost star of the uni
verse, what them That is a question
which even astronomy, with all its
marvellous wealth of discovery and
achievement. can not answered. least
not yet.-Youth's Companion.