The Big Stone Gap post. [volume] (Big Stone Gap, Wise County, Va.) 1892-1928, 1894-01-18
PooR auEssEs Al DISTANCE.
The Iumeasurabie spans OF Creee LyiDg
Between the StarB.


The Inmcasurable spans os;Cpeee Lyipg
between tbe Stars.
OF the hundred million Or mnrc stars
which arc visible with Astronomical
instruments. the distances nom the
earth OF only very few have been
measured with even an approximation
TO accuracy. Most Of the stars appear
to be so far away that the change IL
their apparent place caused By viewing
them from opposite sides OF the earth )
orEit-and that orbit is about one hun
dred and eighty-six million miles across
lis SO slight that it escapes 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 tlaus 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 lleml-
sphere Of the heavens.
The distance of this star appears to
be something like twenty trilljons 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-magnitudc
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 to astronomers IS sixtv-one
Cvgni, is va1ously estimated. at from
forty to sixty trillion miles. on two OF
three times that of the bright star III
the Centaur
The brightness of the ssars, as we
sec them, is, then, no measure OF their
comparative distance. a very bright
star may be much more distant than q
very faint ore, the difference in bril-
lance being due to the greater magni-
tude Of the more distant star. Sirius,
Or the dog-star, for instance, which
scintllatcs so splendi;lly in the winter
sky, is more distant than the little ster
sixty-onc Cygni, the latter being in
fact q very much smaller sun than
ours, while Sirius is a far larger one.
1t thus appears that while the efforts
TO measure the distances oI the stars
have not been very successful, yet they
have resulted in giving us 81 wonder
full insight into the arrangement Of the
univ rse Of SIMS in the midst OF which
we dwell They have proved that
large stars and small stars arc seat
tered through space 1T various dis
tances from one another and from ua;
that the Dimensions OF the blazing
bodies which we call stars, or suns,
vary TO ga enormous extent and that
our own sun, great glorious and over
powerinG as it seeE1s to US. re.,liy be-
longs 10 q quite inferior rank.
Eut 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, rs these ere called
which circle in pairs around their com
mon center OF gravity, is beginning to
help Us q little in this direction.
Recently, for instance, Nh. G. W.
COLES, ,Ir., has calculated, from the re-
suits of such Investigations, tho mean
distance Of ninety-fve stars situated
in the northern hemisphere Of the
heavens, and lie finds ii equal to the
distance which light would travel in
about one hundred and fifty years.
That distance is not less than eight
hundred and seventy trillion miles, or
more than forty-threc times as great as
The distance Of the nearest known star,
Alpha Centauri.
Yet enormous as such distance is,
it is nearly certain that the average
distance of all the stars composing The
visible universe is still greater. And
here and there the starry heavens,
even ia their 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 is there any thoughtful mind
which can avoid asking itself the cues
tion: what lies beyond? When we
come to the outermost star Of the uni
verse, what then?" That is question
which even astronomy, with all its
marvellous wealth Of discovery and
achievement, can not answered. least
not yet.-Youth's Companion.